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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


N 


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Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson 


February  9,  1850 
July  10,  1897 


Twilight  and  evening  bell, 

And  after  that  the  dark  ! 
And  may  there  be  no  sadness  of  farewell, 

When  I  embark ; 

For  tho'  from  out  our  bourne  of  Time  and  Place 

The  flood  may  bear  me  far, 
I  hope  to  see  my  Pilot  face  to  face 

When  I  have  crost  the  bar." 


New  York: 

i8q8 


'^ 


•\  '1 


EAGLE  PRESS 
BROOKLYN-NEW  YORK 


<=i<^6 


NDEX 


Barrett,  George  C 143 

,  Beecher,  Rev.  Henry  Ward 135 

'^^  Botta,  Anne  C.  L 167 

Bridgman,  Herbert  L 109 

Brown,  William  Reynolds 115 

Brownell,  Eva  P 123 

Brownell,  William  C 173 

/  Bryce,  John 178 

Burrows,  George  B 117 

Chadwick,  Rev.  John  W 21,  136,  140,  166 

Chickering,  Joseph  H 118 

Clark,  A.  Inglis 129 

Clews,  Henry 175 

Creevey,  John  K 114 

Davidson,  Thomas 145,  154 

Deming,  Horace  E 117 

Donald,  Rev.  E.  Winchester 182 

Eastman,  John  H 15,  127 

Eggleston,  Edward 79,  108 

Fawcett,  Edgar 169 

Flagg,  John  H 130 

Goodman,  Richard,  Jr. 126 

Hewett,  W.  T ". 125,  145 

Holbrook,  M.  L ' 112 

Hotchkiss,  H.  D 184 

Hutton,  Lawrence iii 

Janes,  Lewis  G 49 

Jerome,  William  T 180 

Kaufman,  Edward  S 37 

Logan,  Walter  S 108 

Lowell,  Sidney  V 179 

Ludlow,  Rev.  James  M 109 

Lydecker,  Charles  E 128 


IV  INDEX. 

Lyman,  Rev.  Albert  J 135 

Mathews,  Albert 167 

^Matthews,  Brander 76,  181 

McClurg,  A.  C 146,  154 

McKelway,  Hon.  St.  Clair 29 

Oakley,  Henry  S 153 

Palmer,  Courtlandt 141 

^Roosevelt,  Theodore 184 

Sandford,  Elliot 185 

Seelye,  Rev.  Julius  H,,  D.D 137,  147,  160,  169 

Shearman,  Thomas  G 140 

Shepard,  Edward  M 181 

Stedman,  Edmund  C 45 

Stephen,  Leslie 134 

Sterne,  Simon 118 

Stockton,  Frank  R iii 

Stoddard,  P.  H 113,  142 

Straus,  Isidor 183 

Straus,  Oscar  S 95,  123,  163,  170 

Taylor,  Hon.  John  A 60,  174 

Thompson,  Charles  Miner 113 

Tredwell,  Daniel  M 156 

Underwood,  B.  F 89,  121,  172,  174 

Vilas,  William  P 103,  175,  177 

Williams,  Rev.  Theodore  C 164 

Woods,  Rev.  Robert  M 130 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 


Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson. 


Autobiographical   Memorandum. 


Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson  was  born  at 
Montpelier,  Vermont,  February  9th,  1850,  of 
Massachusetts  ancestry.  He  was  the  youngest 
son  of  Daniel  Pierce  Thompson,  well  known  as 
a  lawyer,  judge,  editor,  novelist  and  historian ; 
his  best  known  literary  work  being  "The  Green 
Mountain  Boys."  The  Thompson  family  came 
from  Boston  and  vicinity :  the  great-grandfather 
of  Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson  having  been  one 
of  the  martyrs  of  the  battle  of  Lexington.  An 
own  cousin  of  the  last  named  was  the  distin- 
guished Count  Rumford,  whose  name  was  Ben- 
jamin Thompson. 

The  subject  of  the  present  sketch  prepared  for 
college  in  the  Washington  County  Grammar 
School  of  his  native  place.  He  graduated  with 
honors  at  Amherst  College,  Massachusetts,  in 
the  class  of  1869.  Previous  to  his  graduation, 
in  connection  with  his  college  duties,  he  served 


8  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

several  terms  as  assistant  Secretary  of  State,  of 
Vermont.  In  the  Fall  of  1869  he  removed  to 
New  York  City,  where  he  gave  private  instruc- 
tion and  studied  law^  with  George  R.  Thompson, 
his  brother.  In  April,  1870,  he  accepted  a  posi- 
tion as  teacher  of  classics  in  the  Springfield, 
Massachusetts,  High  School,  where  he  remained 
until  the  Summer  of  1872.  In  July  of  that  year 
he  published,  from  the  press  of  S.  C.  Griggs  & 
Company,  an  elementary  work,  "A  First  Book 
in  Latin,"  which  met  with  very  favorable  notice 
all  over  the  country.  In  the  Autumn  of  1872 
he  resumed  the  study  of  law  in  New  York  City, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  December  13th  of 
that  year. 

He  has  been  continuously  in  active  practice  of 
law  since  that  date.  For  nearly  four  years  he 
was  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Jordan,  Stiles  & 
Thompson.  After  this,  he  formed  a  co-partner- 
ship with  Simon  Sterne  and  Oscar  S.  Straus,  late 
United  States  Minister  to  Turkey,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Sterne,  Straus  &  Thompson;  continued, 
subsequently,  on  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Straus, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Sterne  &  Thompson. 
His  present  location  is  No.  Ill  Broadway,  and 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.  9 

his  firm  name,  Taylor  &  Thompson,  his  partner 
being  Hon.  John  A.  Taylor,  formerly  Corpora- 
tion Comisel  of  Brooklyn. 

During  all  periods  since  his  graduation,  he  has 
been  engaged  in  systematic  literary  work.  It 
was  his  intention  to  follow  up  his  "First  Book 
in  Latin  "  with  a  series  of  Latin  text  books,  but 
his  change  of  occupation  prevented.  In  April, 
1871,  a  paper  of  his  on  ''Oratory  and  Vocal 
Culture,"  appeared  in  the  Alassachusetts  Teach- 
er, of  Boston.  In  the  Summer  of  1876,  he  pub- 
lished three  articles  in  the  Liberal  Christian,  on 
" Colly er  and  Orthodoxy,"  "Skepticism  and 
Criticism;  "  also  a  sequel  to  these  in  the  Fitch- 
burg  (Mass.)  Sentinel,  on  "The  True  Basis  of 
Church  Fellowship." 

He  also  has  been  a  frequent  contributor  to 
Mind,  a  quarterly  review  of  psychology  and 
philosophy,  published  in  London ;  to  the  Popu- 
lar Science  Monthly,  published  in  New  York,  and 
to  various  other  journals  and  reviews.  In  1884 
he  published,  through  the  house  of  Longmans, 
Green  &  Company,  in  London,  "A  System  of 
Psychology,"  in  two  volumes,  8vo,  of  600  pages 
each.     This   was   followed   in    1886  by  "The 


10  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

Problem  of  Evil,"  a  continuation  of  his  psycho- 
logical work  into  the  field  of  Ethics. 

In  1888  appeared  the  ''Religious  Sentiments 
of  the  Human  Mind,"  and  in  1889  another  vol- 
ume entitled  "Social  Progress."  In  1892  was 
published  * '  Philosophy  of  Fiction  in  Literature, ' ' 
an  essay,  a  volume  setting  forth  the  theory  of 
the  novel,  with  criticisms  upon  the  various 
methods  followed  in  this  form  of  literary  com- 
position. In  1893  he  published  "Politics  in  a 
Democracy,"  an  essay  upon  present  political 
tendencies,  which  has  since  been  translated  into 
Dutch,  by  Dr.  D.  C.  Nijhoif.  In  January,  1894, 
appeared  an  article  in  the  Forum  upon  the  ques- 
tion of  whether  under  increased  civilization  we 
are  improving  or  deteriorating  in  morals.  He 
has  also  delivered  and  published  a  number  of 
addresses  before  various  societies,  and  on  vari- 
ous occasions,  one  of  the  last  being  an  address 
delivered  before  the  "Woman's  Law  Class,"  of 
the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York,  at  the 
closing  exercises,  April  4th,  1894. 

Mr.  Thompson  never  has  held  political  office 
in  New  York  City,  although  he  has  been  identi- 
fied with  various  political  movements,  notably 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.  11 

those  relating  to  civil  service,  revenue  and  high 
license  reform.  He  served  as  a  member  of  the 
Committee  of  One  Hundred  at  the  Columbian 
Celebration  in  the  Fall  of  1892,  and  has  held 
numerous  honorary  offices  in  connection  with 
public  movements.  He  served  two  terms  as 
Vice-President  of  the  New  York  Alumni  Associa- 
tion of  Amherst  College.  On  the  death  of  Court- 
landt  Palmer,  in  1888,  he  was  elected  to  the 
presidency  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  Club, 
which  position  he  held  for  tw^o  years.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Executive  Council  and  Secretary 
of  the  Author's  Club,  of  New  York,  at  the  pres- 
ent time.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Century 
Club,  Manhattan  Club,  Reform  Club,  Bar  Asso- 
ciation, Lawyers'  Club,  Sons  of  the  Revolution, 
the  Patria  Club,  the  New  England  Society,  and 
a  good  many  other  associations  for  various  pur- 
poses. He  also  has  been  accorded  the  non-resi- 
dent courtesy  of  the  Athenaeum,  and  two  or 
three  other  clubs  in  London. 

On  March  31,  1881,  Mr.  Thompson  married 
Henrietta  Gallup,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  but  never 
has  had  children. 


12  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

In  1894,  at  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  his 
graduation,  Amherst  College  conferred  upon 
him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy. 

Jan.  1, 1895. 


AS  AN  AMHERST  STUDENT. 


AS  AN  AMHERST  STUDENT. 

The  foregoing  sketch  outlines  in  briefest 
form  the  life-work  of  a  classmate,  honored  and 
beloved.  As  the  Historian  of  the  Class  of 
1869  at  Amherst  College,  it  has  been  my  privi- 
lege to  incorporate  this  statement  of  facts  in 
the  several  editions  of  the  class  history,  pub- 
lished at  our  recurring  anniversaries. 

We  have  rejoiced  over  the  career  of  our  class- 
mate, noting  the  brilliant  unfolding  of  latent 
powers,  the  rich  fulfillment  of  the  promise  of 
earlier  days.  His  success  achieved  in  profes- 
sional life  and  as  a  man  of  letters,  the  honors 
worthily  bestowed  upon  him,  have  all  been  a 
matter  of  hearty  congratulation. 

We  now  mourn  deeply  over  a  life  w^ork  ended 
in  the  very  prime  of  its  vigor,  in  the  very  midst 
of  brilliant  achievment ;  and  far  more  than  that, 
we  mourn  the  loss  of  a  friend  for  whom  we 
learned  to  cherish  warm  affection  in  those  years, 
from  '65  to  '69. 

Thompson  w^as  the  youngest  member  of  our 
class,  but  none  surpassed  him  in  securing  the 


16  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

best  results  from  the  college  course.  When,  as 
strangers  to  one  another,  we  gathered  at  Am- 
herst in  the  autumn  of  1865,  he  was  one  of  the  first 
to  be  pointed  out  as  the  son  of  Judge  Thomp- 
son, of  Vermont,  for  we  had  all  read  and  heart- 
ily enjoyed  the  "Green  Mountain  Boys." 

Fair  haired,  slender,  with  smooth,  boyish 
face,  he  still  seemed  maturer  than  many  others, 
and  quickly  made  an  impression  upon  his  class- 
mates. Though  the  youngest  of  their  number, 
he  was  already  experienced  in  public  affairs, 
having  become  familiar  with  legislative  proceed- 
ings and  other  State  business  at  his  home  in 
Montpelier. 

As  a  student,  it  was  early  seen  that  he  w^as 
actuated  by  higher  motives  than  a  mere  desire 
to  attain  "  valedictory  rank."  Competitions  for 
prizes  had  little  attraction.  Mental  discipline 
and  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  for  future  use 
were  the  ends  to  which  he  directed  faithful 
efforts.  No  special  studies  received  his  chief  at- 
tention. Classics,  mathematics,  natural  sciences 
were  all  given  their  due  share  of  time,  and  in  all 
these  departments  of  study  he  gave  evidence  of 
a  wiselv  balanced  and  well  trained  mind. 


AS  AN  AMHERST  STUDENT.  17 

But  the  studies  of  the  Senior  year  under  Pro- 
fessor Seelye  proved  of  special  interest  to  him 
and  developed  a  bent  for  metaphysical  subjects 
which  largely  controlled  his  after  life  and  made 
it  so  prolific  in  articles  for  the  leading  Reviews, 
and  in  more  elaborate  philosophical  works. 

Very  early  in  his  college  career  he  was  recog- 
nized as  an  expert  parliamentarian,  a  model 
presiding  officer,  a  skillful  debater.  When  Pres- 
ident of  one  of  the  college  literary  societies,  he 
would  sometimes  devote  an  evening  to  practice 
in  parliamentary  law,  and  none  who  were  pres- 
ent will  ever  forget  the  masterly  ease  with 
which  he  controlled  the  proceedings  and  guided 
through  all  the  mazes  and  tangles  in  which  the 
society  would  become  involved. 

He  had  a  gift  for  organization,  and  w^as  a 
natural  leader.  The  Amherst  Student,  one  of  the 
pioneers  in  college  journalism,  was  founded  by 
members  of  the  Class  of  '69,  and  Thompson  was 
one  of  the  first  Board  of  Editors.  College  tra- 
ditions had  little  sacredness  in  his  eyes,  and  here 
he  was  somewhat  of  an  iconoclast.  He  cared 
more  for  the  right  and  true  than  for  the  ancient 
and  venerable;  and  in  this,  as  in  many  other 


18  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

ways,  the  college  boy  was  father  of  the  man. 

The  Greek  letter  fraternities  have  always 
been  a  prominent  feature  and  factor  in  college 
life  at  Amherst.  Thompson  here  found  a  large 
field  for  the  useful  exercise  of  his  peculiar  gifts, 
and  the  Psi  Upsilon  fraternity,  of  which  he  was  a 
devoted  member,  has  been  greatly  indebted  to 
him  for  valuable  services  rendered,  not  only  dur- 
his  college  course  but  also  in  subsequent  years. 
His  name  will  always  be  a  household  word 
in  the  Gamma  Chapter. 

He  was,  in  every  way,  one  of  the  marked  men 
of  the  class,  and  none  have  been  surprised  at 
the  distinction  gained  in  his  profession  and  in 
the  literary  world. 

Quiet,  often  reserved  in  his  manner,  he  was 
most  genial  and  cordial  in  his  friendships.  And 
it  is  the  friend  whom  we  mourn,  and  whose 
death  has  brought  a  sense  of  personal  bereave- 
ment to  so  many.  His  name  is  the  tenth  to 
receive  the  star  on  the  roll  of  the  graduate  mem- 
bers of  our  class.  It  marks  the  close  of  a  fruit- 
ful and  honored  life. 


^T^^^'f^^  >'^^k:-.<4&^    ^k-^-^tc^iui^^ 


AS  A  PHILOSOPHER. 


AS  A  PHILOSOPHER. 

626  Carlton  Avenue,  Brooklyn, 
October  7,  1897. 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

I  thank  you  for  the  privilege  of  adding  some- 
thing to  the  public  testimony  to  your  husband's 
qualities  of  mind  and  heart.  I  am  sorry  that  I 
did  not  know  him  to  the  end  so  well  as  I  used  to 
know^  him  w^hen  he  lived  in  Brooklyn.  We  had 
then  a  Philosophical  Society,  the  debates  of 
which  were  intellectual  sparring  matches  for  the 
most  part,  but  I  seem  to  remember  that  Mr. 
Thompson  never  cared  to  talk  for  victory,  nor 
to  take  a  side  on  w^hich  his  opinions  were  not 
actually  engaged,  though  he  could  be  as  witty 
and  as  humorous  as  any  in  the  presentation  of 
his  thought,  and  those  w^ho  came  up  against  him 
had  need  to  bring  their  sharpest  steel.  His  wit 
and  humor  w^ere  among  his  best  endowments 
and,  though  it  was  seldom  my  good  fortune  to 
see  him  in  his  official  station  as  President  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century  Club,  I  can  easily  imagine 
how   helpful   those   qualities   must   have  been 


22  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

to  him  in  that  responsible  position,  and  what 
an  attraction  they  must  have  added  to  the 
gatherings  of  the  clan.  I  cannot  forget  how  brill- 
iantly they  flashed  and  sparkled  in  his  address 
on  Herbert  Spencer  before  the  Brooklyn  Ethical 
Association,  nor  how  splendid  was  his  vindica" 
tion  of  Spencer's  title  to  the  leading  place  upon 
the  roll  of  those  who  have  been  foremost  in  the 
advocacy  of  the  doctrine  of  organic  evolution. 
We  have  had  many  great  examples,  a  Buckle 
and  a  Grote  among  them,  of  men  who  have  pur- 
sued elaborate  studies  in  connection  with  the 
duties  of  an  engrossing  business  or  profession,  so 
that  I  shall  not  make  the  mistake  of  claiming  for 
Mr.  Thompson  anything  singular  in  this  regard, 
but  if  there  was  nothing  singular  in  the  habits 
of  his  intellectual  life,  there  was  much  that  was 
remarkable.  Looking  at  his  several  books,  such 
is  their  character  that  if  they  had  taken  all  his 
time,  the  result  would  not  appear  inadequate. 
It  would  have  been  different,  if  he  had  evolved 
his  philosophical  camel  entirely  from  his  own 
consciousness  as  the  much-quoted  German  did  his 
definition  of  the  beast.  In  fact,  he  took  the  line 
of  both  the  Englishman  who  hunted  a  camel  up 


AS  A  PHILOSOPHER.  23 

before  defining  him  and  the  Frenchman  who 
read-up  the  camel  in  an  exhaustive  manner. 
Nothing  is  more  characteristic  of  the  "Psychol- 
ogy" or  the  "Religions  Sentiments"  than  the 
wide  field  of  literature  from  which  they  drew 
their  illustrations.  To  find  time  to  read  so  much 
he  must  have  stolen  many  hours,  I  fear,  from  the 
too  little  guarded  treasury  of  sleep.  And  be- 
cause the  literary  illustrations  of  the  "Psychol- 
ogy" and  "Religious  Sentiments"  were  so  in- 
numerable it  was  not  surprising  that  he  should 
pass  from  them  to  a  purely  literary  subject, 
"The  Philosophy  of  Fiction,"  and  show  himself 
as  much  at  home  in  this  particular  field  as  if  it 
were  the  only  one  engaging  his  activity.  The 
discussion  in  that  book  of  Realism  and  Idealism 
in  Fiction  has  always  seemed  to  me  the  best  dis- 
cussion we  have  had  of  a  subject  which  has  ex- 
ercised the  ingenuity  of  many  critics,  some  of 
them  "darkening  counsel  by  words  without 
knowledge." 

The  literary  value  of  Mr.  Thompson's  books 
was  not  exhausted  by  the  wealth  of  their  cita- 
tion from  a  multitude  of  authors.  This  was 
secondary.    The  primary  fact  was  that  they  had 


24  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

a  literary  value  of  their  own  in  that  they  were 
written  in  a  style  remarkable  for  its  directness 
and  simplicity.  What  is  necessary  in  architect- 
ure, Emerson  contended,  is  always  beautiful.  It 
is  not  otherwise  with  the  creations  of  the  "en- 
amored architect "  of  a  good  literary  style.  Mr. 
Thompson  illustrated  this  principle.  Seeking  to 
express  himself  with  all  possible  clearness  he 
acquired  a  style  which  could  not  have  been  so 
admirable  if  he  had  been  deliberately  striving 
toward  fine  writing  as  the  goal  of  his  desire. 

The  individualist  in  philosophy,  the  man  who 
does  not  speak  from  the  chair  or  settee  (vide 
Holmes)  of  the  college  professor,  but  pursues  his 
studies  independently,  is  very  apt  to  w^aste  his 
strength  in  rediscovering  what  was  long  since 
discovered,  and  then  found  to  be  unreal.  Mr. 
Thompson  did  not  fall  into  this  pit.  He  wrote 
as  one  conscious  of  great  allies — Spencer  and 
Bain,  the  younger  and  the  older  Mill.  His  psy- 
chological opinions  were  variations  of  their 
themes.  In  general  sympathy  with  them,  he 
was  free  to  break  with  them  at  any  time.  Slav- 
ish in  his  subserviency  to  them  he  never  was. 
At   the   same   time,    I   think    it  may   be   said 


AS  A  PHILOSOPHER.  25 

that  he  was  somewhat  provincial  in  his  indiffer- 
ence to  German  psj'^chology,  and  too  proudly 
self-sufficient  in  his  neglect  of  contemporary 
studies,  though  we  must  remember  that  when 
Mr.  Thompson  wrote  his  book,  the  psycho- 
logical orchestra,  which  is  now  making  such  a 
noble  music,  was  tuning  its  instruments  with 
more  noise  than  harmony. 

No  sooner  have  I  written  of  Mr.  Thompson's 
self-sufficiency,  that  I  repent  me  of  the  evil  I 
have  done ;  for  certainly  it  was  his  modesty  that 
prevented  him  from  being  what  he  might  have 
been  if  he  had  trusted  more  completely  in  him- 
self. It  was  his  modesty  that  obliged  him  often 
to  content  himself  with  being  the  interpreter  and 
expositor  of  others;  thinking,  when  he  should 
have  been  putting  forth  all  his  strength  to  make 
his  characteristic  contribution  to  psychology 
more  vivid  and  complete.  Two  of  his  ablest 
critics.  Professors  Royce  and  Sully — the  former 
most  unfriendly — gave  him  credit  for  distinct 
originality,  and  found  him  always  most  deserv- 
ing our  attention  where  he  was  most  independ- 
ent in  his  observations,  and  most  original  in  his 
conclusions.    I  am  tempted  to  regret  that  he 


26  DANIEL    GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

could  not  devote  himself  exclusively  to  philo- 
sophical studies,  but  if  he  had  done  so,  we  should 
have  missed  the  beautiful  example  of  a  man  pur- 
suing the  duties  of  a  laborious  profession,  and 
at  the  same  time  finding  leisure  for  an  avo- 
cation which  would  have  drained  the  strength 
of  many  to  the  lees. 

I  know  well  enough,  my  dear  Madam,  how 
imperfect  these  observations  on  your  husband's 
work  will  seem  to  you,  accustomed  as  you  were 
to  the  living  play  of  his  intelligence  for  many 
happy  years.  With  ampler  leisure  I  might  have 
written  fewer  and  fitter  words,  but,  if  I  have 
written  anything  that  touches  your  sad  heart 
with  some  fresh  assurance  of  the  honor  and  re- 
gard in  which  your  husband's  mind  and  charac- 
ter were  held,  I  am  content  with  that. 

Sincerely  yours, 


A  FUNERAL  ADDRESS. 


A  FUNERAL  ADDRESS 

By  the  Hon.  St.  Clair   McKelway, 
July  12,  1897. 

My  Friends: 

Only  a  minute  or  two  ago,  Mrs.  Thompson 
asked  me  to  say  a  few  words  here  about 
our  friend,  in  memory  and  in  mourning  of 
whom  we  are  met.  Such  a  request  is,  of 
course,  an  obHgation.  Coming  as  it  has,  neither 
preparation  nor  any  degree  of  consideration 
has  been  possible.  But  that  is  of  less  account 
among  us  all  than  might  be  supposed.  We 
are  all  thinking  the  same  thing  about  him, 
though  our  thoughts  concern  themselves  with 
many  different  experiences.  What  w^e  are  think- 
ing about  him  is  that  in  him  we  each  had  a 
dear  and  helpful  friend,  and  that  w^e  have  him 
no  more.  The  testimonies  of  our  hearts  and 
memories  might  recall  very  different  events  or 
occasions;  but  the  fact  of  service  and  of  sym- 
pathy wotdd  run  through  every  one  of  them. 
The  sense  of  loss  and  of  sorrow  is  the  same.  If 
we  just  sat  here  in  silence,  our  thoughts  would 


30  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON, 

run  together,  and  the  words  which  express 
those  thoughts  need  no  elaboration. 

We  also  know^,  all  of  us  who  truly  knew^  him, 
that  he  would  have  what  is  said  or  done  about 
him  be  as  simple  and  sincere  as  he  was  himself. 
Realities  were  much  to  him.  Appearances  were 
not.  Substance,  not  show,  interested  his  mind. 
He  w^ent  out  of  life  in  a  moment,  in  a  way  w^hich 
might  be  called  dramatic,  if  looked  at  from  one 
point  of  view.  But  he  would  not  have  any 
words  about  him  or  any  observance  wear  that 
character.  He  would  have  his  life  rather  than 
his  death  give  the  note  to  w^ords  concerning 
him.  Helikedto  be  among  friends.  Among  friends 
he  felt  at  home.  He  is  surrounded  by  friends  here. 
He  would  have  no  more  display  on  account 
of  himself,  dead,  than  he  would  on  account  of 
himself,  living.  The  simplicity,  informality  and 
genuineness  of  the  man  were  qualities  which 
befit  his  funeral.  We  all  know  and  feel  that 
they  do. 

With  him,  before  all  things  was  truth.  He 
seemed  w^hat  he  was.  He  said  his  thought. 
When  his  thought  changed,  he  moved  his  life 
and  words  with  it.     This  was,  in  part,  because 


A  FUNERAL  ADDRESS.  31 

he  came  from  the  aristocracy  of  American 
thought — the  true,  pure  and  solid  stock  of  New- 
England.  Revolutionary  blood  was  in  him,  and 
colonial  blood  before  that — ^the  stock  of  men 
who  thought  and  wrought  and  grew  right 
straight  on.  A  jurist  and  an  author,  he  was 
the  son  of  an  author  and  a  jurist,  and  he  ad- 
vanced from  law  into  literature  and  from  litera- 
ture into  philosophy.  He  followed  the  expe- 
rience of  the  New^  England  home  w^ith  the  drill 
and  culture  of  the  New  England  College.  He 
followed  that  by  attendance  on  the  school  of 
life  in  this  metropolis.  Here  he  came  unto 
strangers,  and  here  for  more  than  twenty  years 
he  lived  among  friends.  He  had  the  friend-mak- 
ing qualities.  He  made  his  friends  the  friends  of 
one  another.  He  advanced  from  legal  service  to 
legal  command.  He  was  a  persuasive  advocate. 
He  w^as  a  wise  adviser.  He  w^as  a  careful  stu- 
dent. He  settled  more  interests  and  contentions 
than  he  disputed,  and  he  liked  to  settle  them 
more  than  to  quarrel  about  them.  He  w^as  the 
soul  of  honor  as  a  practitioner.  His  word 
was  the  only  stipulation  needed.  His  rank 
at  the  bar  was  high.     It  was  won  and  held 


32  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

by  professional  and  personal  character  in  the 
best  sense  of  that  word. 

His  position  in  literature  was  distinguished, 
and  it  was  becoming  eminent.  He  chose  philos- 
ophy as  his  specialty.  It  enabled  him,  as  an 
historian,  to  account  for  the  past,  as  an  ob- 
server, to  understand  the  present,  and  as  a 
thinker,  to  take  outlook  on  the  future.  He  never 
w^rote  a  word  of  hardness  or  uncharitableness. 
His  recognition  among  the  thoughtful  and  the 
scholarly  was  assured.  The  judgment  of  foreign- 
ers, in  a  sense,  is  the  judgment  of  posterity.  For- 
eign judgment  of  him  was  very  favorable.  Esti- 
mate of  him  at  home,  as  an  author,  steadily  grew. 
His  subjects  were  too  broad  and  general,  his 
treatment  of  them  was  too  profound,  for  popu- 
larity ;  but  scientists,  artists,  scholars,  teachers 
and  statesmen  were  his  readers.  His  corre- 
spondents and  his  friends  and  his  works  received 
not  only  praise  but  translation  abroad.  He 
pursued  law  and  literature  on  parallel  lines,  and 
philosophy  was  the  lamp  that  guided  his  feet  on 
the  road. 

But  we  all  of  us  liked  him  better  for  what  he 
was,  did  and  said  to  us,  than  for  anything  he 


A  FUNERAL  ADDRESS.  33 

was,  did  or  said  to  the  world.  To  us,  the  man 
and  the  friend  was  more  than  the  jurist,  author, 
orator  or  philosopher.  He  largely  lived  for 
others.  His  life  w^as  altruistic  always,  though 
never  avowedly  so.  He  made  no  claims,  just 
as  he  made  no  pretensions.  As  time  goes  on, 
we  may  be  able  to  tell  the  debt  w^hich  law  or 
authorship  owes  to  him,  but  friendship  is  his 
mourner  to-day — and  the  rest  can  wait.  We 
would  withhold  no  w^ord  of  sympathy  from 
those  especially  stricken  by  his  going  out. 
They  know  they  have  our  sympathy  and  that 
they  will  need  it  in  the  days  to  come.  But 
they  and  w^e  can  bear  aw^ay  from  this  scene  the 
compensation  of  his  memory,  the  privilege  of  his 
fellowship,  and  the  purpose  to  do  unto  others 
in  our  measure  the  things  which  he  did  unto  us 
and  for  us  in  his  fullness  of  measure  in  the  time 
that  he  and  we  were  together,  in  work,  in  pur- 
pose, and  in  service  here. 


AS  A  LAWYER. 


AS  A  LAWYER. 

Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson  was  junior  part- 
ner in  the  firm  of  Sterne  &  Thompson  when  I,  as 
a  student  in  that  office,  first  knew  him.  From  the 
very  beginning  of  my  professional  life  I  have  thus 
had  an  opportunity  of  observing  his  considerate 
and  kindly  dealings  w^ith  his  associates.  His 
broad  views  and  cheerful  disposition  manifested 
themselves  constantly  in  his  judgment  of  men 
and  their  motives,  and  endeared  him  to  every  one 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  Subsequently  I 
entered  into  partnership  with  him  in  the  practice 
of  law,  and  for  ten  years  enjoyed  the  privilege  of 
a  daily  association  with  him.  During  all  this 
period,  in  the  strain  and  contention  of  an  active 
practice,  Mr.  Thompson  was  ever  the  same  even- 
tempered  judicial  minded  man,  kindly,  sympa- 
thetic and  dispassionate  with  an  intellectual 
grasp  which  mastered  all  difficulties.  He  aroused 
no  bitter  antagonisms  and  made  no  enemies,  and 
this  was  attributable  not  to  any  lack  of  force  or 
decided  convictions  upon  his  part,  but  to  his  rare 
faculty  of  drawing  out  of  all  men  the  best  that 


38  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

was  in  them.     His  life  seemed  modeled  on  the 
well-known  lines  of  James  Russell  Lowell : 

"  Be  noble  I  and  the  nobleness  that  lies 
In  other  men,  sleeping  but  never  dead, 
Will  rise  in  majesty  to  meet  thine  own." 

His  opponents  always  contended  with  him 
upon  a  high  and  honorable  plane.  As  a  practi- 
tioner, while  neglecting  nothing  of  his  clients' 
interests,  he  never  relied  upon  the  technicalities 
of  involved  procedure,  but  sought  to  litigate 
honorably  and  fairly,  and  to  impress  upon  his 
adversary  and  the  Court  the  sincerity  of  his  con- 
victions and  the  justice  of  his  cause.  His  breth- 
ren at  the  bar  learned  to  depend  not  merely  on 
the  letter  but  upon  the  spirit  of  his  promise.  He 
preferred  an  argument  before  an  appellate  tribu- 
nal upon  some  intricate  legal  problem  to  the 
forensic  display  of  a  jury  trial.  His  hearers  w^ere 
invariably  impressed  w^ith  his  deep  research  and 
the  conscientiousness  which  left  no  phase  of  a 
subject  untouched,  no  aspect  of  a  case  unillu- 
mincd.  His  broad  intellectual  horizon  and  pro- 
found knowledge  of  substantive  law  should  have 


AS  A  LAWYER.  39 

earned  for  him  an  elevation  to  the  bench.  He 
was  eminently  fitted  for  a  judicial  position,  and 
lawyers  as  well  as  litigants  would  speedily  have 
learned  to  seek  and  depend  upon  his  keen  sense 
of  justice  and  to  prize  his  careful  and  well  con- 
sidered opinions. 

Mr.  Thompson's  professional  career  began  in 
the  year  1872,  when  he  became  a  student  in  the 
office  of  Foster  &  Thomson,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar.  In  1873,  with  Edward  Jordan  and 
Theodore  L.  Stiles,  he  organized  the  firm  of  Jor- 
dan, Stiles  &  Thompson,  and  upon  the  dissolu- 
tion of  that  firm  in  1878,  he  joined  the  office  of 
Sterne,  Hudson  &  Straus,  and  was  very  shortly 
afterward  admitted  to  the  firm,  which  then 
became  Sterne,  Straus  &  Thompson,  his  part- 
ners being  Simon  Sterne  and  Hon.  Oscar  S. 
Straus.  In  1881,  upon  the  retirement  of  Mr. 
Straus,  the  firm  name  became  Sterne  &  Thomp. 
son.  In  1885  the  firm  of  Thompson,  Ackley  & 
Kaufman  w^as  formed  and  continued  until  1890, 
when  Mr.  Thompson  entered  into  copartnership 
with  Charles  E.  Lydecker  under  the  firm  name  of 
Thompson  &  Lydecker.    In  1892  Mr,  Thompson 


40  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

joined  Mr.  John  A.  Taylor  and  myself  in  form- 
ing the  firm  of  Taylor,  Thompson  &  Kaufman. 
I  retired  from  the  firm  in  1894,  which  then 
continued  under  the  name  of  Taylor  &  Thomp- 
son up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  During  this 
period  of  twenty-five  years  of  active  practice 
Mr.  Thompson  was  engaged  in  many  important 
litigations  and  in  the  varied  controversies  of  a 
general  law  practice.  To  this  work  he  brought 
a  careful  and  well-trained  mind,  conscientiously 
devoted  to  his  clients'  interests  and  studiously 
safeguarding  them. 

His  characteristic  dignity  and  kindliness, 
united  with  a  rare  fund  of  humor  and  graceful 
diction,  made  of  him  a  very  attractive  public 
speaker,  and  his  thorough  mastery  of  his  subject 
always  secured  for  him  the  interested  attention 
and  thoughtful  consideration  of  the  judges  before 
whom  he  appeared.  His  professional  forte  lay 
in  a  fair  and  forceful  presentation  of  the  facts  and 
an  appeal  to  the  reason  of  the  Courts  by  logical 
and  comprehensive  argument.  His  success  as  a 
la'wyer  lay  in  his  ability  to  survey  the  whole  field 
of  jurisprudence  with  a  mind  w^ell  poised,  and 
a  keen  discrimination    aptly  appreciating   the 


AS  A  LAWYER.  41 

weight  of  well  determined  precedents  and  de- 
cisively defining  the  trend  of  judicial  opinion 
bearing  upon  the  case  in  hand. 

His  brethren  at  the  bar  will  cherish  the  mem- 
ory of  his  helpful  counsel,  often  sought  and  never 
denied  them.  His  colleagues,  who  esteemed  him, 
and  his  friends,  who  loved  him,  keenly^  regret  the 
early  closing  of  his  brilliant  career. 


CllMMiJi  <0.    kOUAm^(M. 


AN  AUTHOR  AND  FRIEND. 


AN  AUTHOR  AND  FRIEND. 

It  so  happened  that  during  the  years  in 
which  Mr.  Thompson's  office  was  within  a 
block's  distance  from  my  own  I  never  really 
knew  him  until  he  joined  the  Authors'  Club  in 
1888.  Notwithstanding  his  extreme  modesty, 
he  was  not  one  to  be  there  long  without  gain- 
ing prominence.  His  mental  power,  executive 
ability,  and,  above  aU,  his  delightful  personal 
qualities,  quickly  made  him  one  of  the  most  effi- 
cient and  best  loved  members.  It  w^as  by  natural 
selection  that  he  became  in  time  our  secretary. 

The  Club  brought  me  nothing  better  than  my 
association  and  friendship  with  Daniel  Greenleaf 
Thompson.  Besides  our  committee  work  to- 
gether, we  had  frequent  meetings  and  confi- 
dences at  the  Authors'  and  the  Century.  As  an 
official,  he  was  not  only  scrupulous  and  happy 
in  his  attention  to  duty,  but  he  soon  became  a 
kind  of  universal  solvent  whenever  the  tradi- 
tionally sensitive  elements  of  a  literary  fusion 
were  intractable.  His  tact,  consideration,  good 
sense,  kindly  influence,  never  failed  to  do  their 
perfect  work.    Equally  strong  and  sympathetic, 


4j6  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

he  was  a  man  to  cling  to,  and  one  whose  service 
could  not  be  fully  estimated  "save  by  his  loss." 
Thompson's  philosophical  writings  are  a 
monument  to  his  powers  of  thought ;  but  it  is  of 
his  sweetness,  serenity,  and  companionship 
that  I  am  now  thinking  and  writing.  When  he 
died,  so  unexpectedlj^  I  am  sure  that  tears  came 
to  the  eyes  of  many  whose  acquaintance  with 
him  was  even  less  intimate  than  mine.  In  the 
lone  midsummer  I  attended  the  simple  funeral 
services  in  town,  and  it  seemed  only  natural  to 
find  that  others  of  his  comrades  had  journeyed 
fast  and  far  to  pay  a  silent  tribute  of  affection 
and  regret. 


2^w?  <^ /^^ 


THE  TEACHER  OF  ETHICS. 


THE  TEACHER  OF  ETHICS. 

As  all  roads  lead  to  Rome,  so  all  philosophies 
in  the  nineteenth  century  lead  to  ethics;  they 
are  judged  by  their  moral  teaching  and  influence 
on  human  lives.  All  teachers,  whether  they  will 
or  no,  are  teachers  of  ethics.  Many  are  the 
types  of  ethical  theory,  but  the  modern  evolu- 
tionist has  the  consolation  of  perceiving  that 
moral  advancement  does  not  depend  primarily 
on  the  character  of  one's  ethical  system;  the 
ultimate  sanctions  for  right  action  lie  in  the 
nature  of  things,  and  are  enforced  by  the  practi- 
cal lessons  of  experience.  Ethical  relations  be- 
tw^een  individuals  are  established,  in  the  main, 
by  the  conditions  under  which  they  dwell  to- 
gether in  association. 

This  process  of  moral  evolution,  how^ever, 
may  be  greatly  aided  or  retarded  by  the  atti- 
tude of  the  mind  toward  the  problem  of  life 
itself.  It  is  therefore  true  that  ethical  theories 
may  help  or  hinder,  through  their  influence 
on  individual  lives,  the  moral  advancement 
of  the  race.  To  the  evolutionist  the  end  and 
aim  of  Nature  is   fullness    of  life,  whether  in 


50  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

the  field  of  biology  or  in  the  higher  realms 
of  sociology,  ethics  and  individual  experience. 
The  philosophical  evolutionist  is  therefore  logi- 
cally an  optimist,  or  at  least  a  meliorist,  in 
his  attitude  toward  the  problem  of  life.  He 
must  believe  that  life  is  inherently  good,  and 
not  evil. 

Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson  \\ras  a  philosophi- 
cal evolutionist.  It  -was  his  rare  fortune  to  come 
upon  the  stage  of  intellectual  activity  after  the 
doctrine  of  evolution  had  been  firmly  estab- 
lished as  a  scientific  fact,  and  to  have  for  com- 
panions and  friends  in  his  intellectual  w^ork 
some  of  the  ablest  exponents  of  the  doctrine. 
Interested  from  his  youth  in  the  higher  prob- 
lems of  thought,  he  had  formulated — before  his 
graduation  from  college,  as  he  tells  us  in  the 
interesting  preface  to  his  essay  on  Social  Prog- 
ress,— a  plan  of  life,  and  an  outline  of  work,  to 
which  he  consistently  applied  himself  during  the 
intervals  of  a  busy,  professional  life  in  later 
years.  To  the  wealth  of  material  presented  by 
the  great  masters  of  scientific  lore,  he  brought 
a  mature  and  independent  judgment,  a  riper 
scholarship   in  the  field  of  classical  literature 


THE  TEACHER  OF  ETHICS.  51 

than  is  usually  found  in  those  whose  bent  is 
rather  toward  the  conclusions  of  science  than 
the  conventional  opinions  inculcated  by  the  uni- 
versity curriculum  of  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago,  and  a  clear  and  elegant  diction  which  lent 
added  grace  and  interest  to  the  statement  of  his 
conclusions. 

With  such  native  gifts,  and  in  such  an  intel- 
lectual environment,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say 
that  Mr.  Thompson's  conception  of  the  essential 
nature  of  life,  here  on  this  earth,  w^as  optimistic. 
Since  philosophy  is  largely  a  matter  of  tempera- 
ment, he  would  probably  have  been  an  opti- 
mist, even  had  he  not  been  in  touch  with  Spencer 
and  Darwin  and  Youmans  and  Fiske,  and  the 
great  masters  of  evolutionary  thought.  Among 
the  philosophers  of  classical  antiquity  he  sym- 
pathized most  profoundly  with  the  teachings  of 
Epicurus.  He  was  the  able  interpreter  of  the 
thought  of  that  great  master  to  our  generation. 
He  defended  it  against  the  misapprehensions 
and  misinterpretations  of  unsympathetic  criti- 
cism, both  of  his  own  and  later  times.  He  res- 
pected the  reverence  for  life  which  underlies  and 
inspires  the  teachings  of  Epicurus.    With  him, 


52  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

he  rejected  the  morbid  asceticism  which  would 
seek  for  the  highest  good  in  the  mortification 
of  the  flesh  and  the  atrophy  of  the  normal 
functions  and  activities  of  man,  instead  of  mak- 
ing them  by  wise  direction  and  cultivation  the 
servants  and  ministers  to  the  noblest  ethical 
and  spiritual  life. 

In  the  systematic  presentation  of  his  thought, 
ethics  was  outlined  by  Mr.  Thompson  as  a 
branch  of  psychology' ;  but  psychology,  in  the 
broad  vieww^hich  he  took  of  it,  w^as  co-terminus 
with  anthropology,  covering  the  entire  range  of 
human  activities.  Ethics,  therefore,  with  him  as 
with  Mr.  Spencer,  was  the  goal  of  Nature's  long 
evolutionary  process — the  end  toward  which  all 
the  operations  of  life  are  tending.  Since  Nature 
has  made  pleasure  or  happiness  the  concomitant 
of  the  free  exercise,  in  due  adjustment  and  pro- 
portion, of  every  natural  faculty, — the  strong 
incentive  to  w^oo  man  out  of  animalism  into 
manhood,  out  of  savagery  toward  civilization, — 
he  saw  no  escape  from  the  conclusion  that  this 
result  is  entirely  normal  and  justifiable — a  part 
of  the  divine  plan.  Mr.  Thompson's  ethical 
philosophy,  therefore,    was  frankly  hedonistic. 


THE  TEACHER  OF  ETHICS.  53 

He  did  not  try  to  explain  away  or  apologize  for 
this  attitude.  With  Spencer,  however,  he  clearly 
understood  and  affirmed  that  the  highest  indi- 
vidual happiness  is  unattainable  while  egoistic 
and  altruistic  ends  are  regarded  as  antithetic 
and  antagonistic.  The  greatest  happiness  of 
each  must  be  sought  and  found  in  the  greatest 
happiness  of  the  greatest  number — ultimately 
in  the  highest  satisfaction  of  all.  "The  nearer 
any  individual  can  come  to  making  the  ethical 
summum  bonuzn  his  supreme  end,  the  more 
fully  will  he  satisfy  the  requirements  of  this 
social  obligation."  In  the  final  synthesis,  ego- 
ism and  altruism  are  unified;  that  line  of 
action  w^hich  conduces  to  the  highest  welfare 
of  each  is  precisely  the  line  of  action  which 
secures  equity,  the  largest  liberty  and  the 
greatest  happiness  of  all. 

Finding  the  sanctions  of  morality  and  the 
basis  of  his  ethical  system  in  the  natural  order  of 
the  universe  and  the  normal  relations  of  man  to 
man,  Mr.  Thompson  ably  and  resolutely  com- 
batted  the  theological  conception  of  sin.  Moral 
evil,  he  held,  is  that  and  that  only  which  results 
from  the  violation  of  the  moral  law — the  ignorant 


54  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

or  willful  departure  from  these  normal  relations. 
The  ethical  code  is  not  written  in  books,  or  given 
to  man  by  supernatural  inspiration — it  inheres 
in  the  nature  of  things,  and  is  discoverable 
through  human  experience  and  the  normal  exer- 
cise of  faculties  common  to  all  men.  Its  penal- 
ties are  not  extrinsic,  but  intrinsic.  The  moral 
law  does  not  depend  upon  the  arbitrary  man- 
dates of  deity,  any  more  than  does  the  law  of 
gravity.  Both  are  equally  divine;  both  are 
equally  natural.  The  doctrine  of  human  lapse 
and  depravity  is,  therefore,  not  only  untrue,  but 
essentially  immoral.  It  connotes  and  implies  a 
confusion  of  ideas  concerning  the  nature  of  right 
and  wrong  that  strikes  at  the  very  foundations 
of  the  ethical  life.  I  know^  not  where  in  our  lit- 
erature this  subject  has  been  so  ably  and  forcibly 
handled,  as  in  the  section  entitled  "The  Great 
Theological  Superstition,"  in  The  Problem  of 
Evil. 

To  Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson,  philosophy 
was  no  mere  fine-spun  theory  about  life,  a  dilet- 
tante speculation  for  idle  moments ;  it  was  some- 
thing to  be  practically  applied  in  the  constantly 
arising  emergencies  of  daily  living.    The  logical 


THE  TEACHER  OF  ETHICS.  55 

outcome  of  hedonistic  utilitarianism  in  political 
philosophy  is  democratic  individualism.  Mr. 
Thompson  was  a  consistent  individualist  in  pol- 
itics. This  by  no  means  implies  that  he  was 
blind  to  the  social  obligations  of  the  individual, 
or  to  the  influence  of  social  conditions  in  forming 
individual  character.  "No  man  is  great  in  iso- 
lation," he  truly  affirms.  As  his  theory  of  the 
summum  bonum  implied  the  happiness  of  all  as 
a  condition  to  the  highest  happiness  of  each,  so 
his  political  philosophy  implied  the  recognition 
of  the  rights  of  all  as  a  condition  for  securing 
the  rights  of  each. 

This  conception  of  right  he  would  apply  in 
the  family  as  well  as  in  the  State.  It  implied, 
in  his  judgment,  the  abolition  of  patriarchal  au- 
tocracy in  family  government,  the  recognition 
of  the  equal  rights  of  the  wife  with  the  husband, 
and  respect  for  the  individualities  of  children. 
"  Children  are  to  be  worked  for  as  human  beings 
having  their  own  independent  ends,  which  are 
to  be  respected.  They  are  not  to  be  considered 
as  mere  dependents,  ow^ing  allegiance  to  their 
parents,  and  subordinate  in  all  their  activity  to 
the  purposes  and  pleasures  of  the  parents ;  but 


56  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

their  welfare,  read  in  the  light  of  their  own  self- 
determinations,  assumes  a  just  importance,  and 
is  of  equal  consequence  to  the  weal  of  father  or 
mother."  For  father  or  mother  to  "play  the 
sovereign  "in  a  family  is,  in  his  judgment,  an 
immoral  act. 

Though  he  never  shirked  the  logical  outcome 
of  his  principles,  Mr.  Thompson  was  no  mere 
sentimental  agitator  for  extreme  opinions.  His 
views  on  social  and  political  topics  were  care- 
fully considered,  and  were  legitimate  deductions 
from  his  general  philosophy  of  life.  He  had  no 
hesitation  in  confessing  the  judgments  thus  ma- 
turely formed,  though  conservative  in  his  esti- 
mation of  the  probability  of  their  complete  ac- 
ceptance and  realization  in  the  ordering  of  social 
institutions.  From  the  great  American  sin  of 
subservience  to  public  opinion  he  was  entirely 
free.  He  was  entirely  frank,  therefore,  in  his  de- 
fence of  the  equality  of  w^oman  with  man.  In 
discussing  "Woman's  New  Opportunity"  before 
the  Woman's  Law  Class  of  the  University  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  he  said:  "The  doctrine 
that  woman's  activity  should  be  limited  by 
law,  or  by  custom,  or  by  public  opinion,  in  any 


THE  TEACHER  OF  ETHICS.  57 

way  different  from  that  of  man,  is  bom  of  ignor- 
ance and  wickedness.  It  is  an  offspring  of  that 
sentiment  of  aggression  and  domination  which 
has  made  the  serf,  the  slave,  and  the  feudatory. 
It  is  a  refusal  of  justice.  It  is  a  denial  of  person- 
ality. It  is  an  assertion  that  woman  is  not  a 
human  being.  It  is  a  contradiction  of  every 
foundation  principle  of  ethics,  politics  and  social 
science.  It  is  a  logical  absurdity.  It  is  a  moral 
enormity.  It  is  a  libel  upon  nature.  It  is  a 
blasphemy  against  the  Author  of  Nature." 

Hail,  and  farewell,  brave  soul!  A  life  how 
short,  and  yet  how  full,  consecrated  how  con- 
sistently to  the  ideals  wrought  out  of  the 
thoughtful  experience  of  a  sincere  mind,  face  to 
face  with  the  facts  of  the  universe.  Few  there 
are  among  us  who  face  the  grave  problems  of 
life  with  such  clear  vision  and  in  such  candid 
spirit.  Thou  hast  left  the  w^orld  a  precious 
legacy^  of  honest  thought.  Thou  hast  nobly  pro- 
tested against  the  prevailing  pessimism  in  phi- 
losophy and  fiction.  Courage  and  good  cheer 
are  the  burden  of  thy  message  to  those  who  live 
after  thee.  Nor  yet  didst  thou  lose  in  the  mazes 
of  philosophical  speculation  thy  grasp  on  the 


58  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

immortal  hope.  In  the  excellence  of  the  life  that 
now  is,  thou  sawest  a  prophecy  of  personal  con- 
tinuance in  the  life  hereafter.  Best  legacy  of  all, 
most  profoundly  ethical,  most  deeply  needed,  is 
the  noble  example  of  free,  untrammeled  thought 
wedded  to  frank  speech,  which  thou  hast  left  us. 
Reading  anew  thy  noble  volumes,  to  us  w^ho 
knew  thee  the  thoughts  seem  vascular — back  of 
them  we  feel  the  life  of  an  earnest  and  sincere 
person.  Such  thoughts  do  not  die:  they  live, 
and  through  responsive  minds  they  move  the 
world  to  higher  issues. 


(jL£o\y^        /'      ^-^e^.'i^-t^-l^^y 


ETHICAL  ASSOCIATION  EULOGY. 


ETHICAL  ASSOCIATION   ADDRESS 

By  the  Hon.  John  A.  Taylor, 
September  26,  1897. 

Death  is  the  crowning  mystery  of  life.  Its 
boding  shadow  takes  its  place  at  the  cradle  and 
keeps  its  attendance  constant  to  the  grave. 
And  yet  we  are  never  ready  for  its  actual  sum- 
mons. Neither  time  nor  place  seem  ever  fitting 
for  its  unwelcome  intrusion. 

When,  during  July  last,  the  message  came  to 
me  that  Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson  was  dead, 
my  first  thought  was,  How  short  his  life  has 
been !  How  fate  is  cheated  of  its  promise !  I  did 
not  for  the  moment  half  appreciate  the  death 
of  sweet  companionship,  of  useful  counsel,  of 
lofty  contemplation,  which  it  implied.  I  did  not 
have  in  mind  the  estimate  that  men  must  place 
upon  his  short  career ;  the  potential  power  and 
influence  which  were  hidden  in  his  twenty  years 
of  incompleted  life ;  the  swift  arrest  of  many  pro- 
jects ;  the  sudden  snap  of  virile  chords  of  friend- 
ship and  tender  ties  of  love  and  admiration. 


62  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

And  yet  it  is  not  an  unmixed  grief  that  he 
should  have  died  in  the  plenitude  of  life,  when  his 
mental  vision  was  unimpaired,  when  the  quiver 
of  hope  was  inexhausted,  when  his  friends  could 
point  with  confident  expectation  to  the  worth 
and  usefulness  of  what  was  left  undone.  Surely 
he  had  long  entitled  himself  to  be  regarded  as  an 
intellectual  giant.  He  was  the  friend  and  com- 
peer of  men  of  colossal  thought  and  ripest  cul- 
tivation. He  was  constituted,  by  the  appear- 
ance of  his  "Psychology"  in  1884,  among  the 
foremost  thinkers  in  that  abstruse  science.  For 
years  he  was  the  leading  American  psychologist, 
and  he  demonstrated,  by  repeated  publications, 
that  he  never  permitted  the  duties  of  an  arduous 
and  jealous  profession  to  wholly  close  to  him 
the  gates  of  those  delightful  paths  of  literature 
and  public  utterance  which  he  did  so  much  to 
enrich  and  adorn. 

He  was  of  New  England  origin  directly,  and 
more  remotely  of  old  England.  He  gained  large 
insight  into  the  secret  springs  of  human  nature 
by  his  service  when  very  young  as  Assistant 
Secretary  of  the  State  of  Vermont.  He  spent 
his  four  years  of  college  life  at  Amherst,  in  a 


ETHICAL  ASSOCIATION  EULOGY.  63 

vigilant  and  successful  pursuit  and  acquisition 
of  knowledge,  and  the  love  of  learning  kept  him 
as  a  teacher  for  a  time  before  his  entrance  on  his 
serious  work  of  life. 

This  was  destined  to  be  of  a  twofold  nature. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  New  York  bar  in  1872, 
and  won  early  recognition  at  the  hands  of  his 
brethren  of  the  profession  and  of  the  bench,  and 
during  his  career  of  a  full  quarter  of  a  century, 
as  a  prosecuting  lawy^er,  he  won  extensive  repu- 
tation by  the  publication  of  a  series  of  volumes 
on  philosophical  subjects  and  an  occasional 
excursion  into  the  lighter  realms  of  literature. 
At  any  time  of  the  latter  part  of  his  practice  he 
would  have  been  regarded  by  his  legal  brethren 
as  eminently  fitted  for  a  judicial  career. 

But  he  has  passed  at  last  beyond  all  heed  of 
human  judgment.  To  those  of  us  who  knew 
and  loved  him  is  left  the  valued  satisfaction  of 
summing  up  his  rich  and  fruitful  Ufe.  Surely  he 
belonged  to  the  aristocracy  of  intellect.  By 
mental  equipment,  by  character,  by  tireless 
industry,  he  had  achieved  those  things  in  life 
which  lifted  him  far  above  the  paths  of  common 
men,  and  won  for  him  the  priceless  recognition 


64  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

of  renown.  In  whatever  circle  he  moved,  he 
illuminated  it  by  the  brilliancy  of  his  humor 
and  the  profundity  of  his  knowledge.  To  few  of 
his  contemporaries  was  it  given  to  fringe  the 
solid  qualities  of  wisdom  with  so  sparkling  a 
vein  of  sprightly  fancy.  He  dearly  loved  what 
may  be  called  the  humanities  of  life,  and  thor- 
oughly despised  all  human  meanness.  He 
caught  the  temper  of  his  time  with  admirable 
completeness,  and  assailed  its  weaknesses  with 
unsparing  scorn  and  sarcasm.  He  was  highly 
valued  and  always  successful  as  an  occasional 
orator.  His  ideas  were  always  presented  com- 
pletely. They  were  never  half  formed.  He 
clothed  them,  too,  in  such  attractive  forms 
of  expression  as  earned  for  them  the  pleased 
attention  of  his  hearers .  He  was  a  man  of  great 
intellectual  integrity.  Scrupulously  loyal  to 
every  form  of  obligation,  he  sought  as  his  only 
end  the  truth.  This  led  him,  long  before  the 
present  wide  acceptance  of  Spencerian  principles, 
to  promptly  appreciate  and  advocate  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  evolution. 

He  believed  in  the  freest  scope  for  all  human 
expression,  hence  he  was   among  the   earliest 


ETHICAL  ASSOCIATION  EULOGY.  65 

members  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  Club,  and 
succeeded  its  founder,  Courtland  Palmer,  as  its 
president.  He  keenly  relished  and  warmly  ap- 
preciated the  broad  platform  of  that  society, 
which  invited  to  its  opportunities  all  classes  of 
public  men  and  women,  without  regard  to  race, 
belief,  or  class.  As  president  of  the  organiza- 
tion he  dignified  the  ofiice  and  helped  to  elevate 
the  tone  of  all  its  functions  and  make  it  more 
and  more  a  forceful  element  of  progress  in  the 
metropolis. 

He  was  fearless  in  his  advocacy  of  unpopular 
truth.  He  brought  to  his  book  on  "Politics  in 
a  Democracy"  the  keenest  power  of  analysis, 
which  power  was  one  of  his  strongest  elements 
as  a  writer,  and  he  did  not  scruple  to  enunciate 
his  conclusions,  although  the  intellectual  path 
he  followed  led  him  far  away  from  many  men 
for  whose  opinion  he  entertained  profound 
respect. 

He  was,  more  than  most  men,  tolerant  of  op- 
posing theories  and  views.  He  gave  to  all  the 
freest  hearing,  reserving  to  himself  the  right  to 
formulate  his  ow^n  creed  and  prescribe  his  own 
rule  of  action. 


66  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

And  he  was  always  to  be  relied  upon.  He 
deserved  and  lie  received  the  highest  confidences 
of  men  and  women,  and  these  he  never  betrayed. 
No  stress  of  situation  could  ever  lead  him  to 
forget  the  rights  of  others  entrusted  to  his  keep- 
ing. He  understood  thoroughly  the  art  of  help- 
ing others,  and  his  friendship  once  won  was 
never  afterward  witheld.  He  never  forgot  the 
beginnings  of  wisdom,  nor  despised  the  small 
achievements  of  those  who  were  his  inferiors. 
He  opened  his  mind  and  heart  with  willing  pa- 
tience to  the  story  of  human  suffering,  and  never 
closed  the  door  of  his  attention  till  he  had  meas- 
ured with  judicial  fairness  the  actual  need,  and 
portioned  out  to  it  its  just  amount  of  relief. 

Who  that  has  ever  basked  in  the  radiant  sun- 
shine of  his  social  contact  can  long  forget  the 
richly  welling  spring  of  anecdote  and  fun  which 
made  his  presence  so  sure  a  prophecy  of  glad 
and  edifying  conversation.  I  think  his  gift  of 
humor  was  of  uncommon  excellence,  but  never 
did  he  bait  the  shaft  of  his  epigram  with  the 
bitterness  of  scorn. 

Accustomed  as  we  aU  are  to  note  the  quick 
oblivion   that   follows  close  upon   the  mortal 


ETHICAL  ASSOCIATION  EULOGY.  67 

extinction  of  the  most  exalted  human  career,  it 
cannot  be  without  a  bitter  sense  of  the  remorse- 
lessness  of  death  that  we  surrender  the  too 
short  earthly  record  of  our  friend  to  the  oblivion 
of  the  past.  We  shall  long  indeed  recall  his 
noble  form,  his  genial  nature,  his  open  counte- 
nance illuminated  with  the  shining  brilliancy  of 
a  highly  cultivated  mind.  And  the  world  at 
large  will  miss  from  out  the  paths  of  culture 
and  refinement  a  strong  and  fertile  nature, 
richly  endowed  with  intellectual  and  philo- 
sophic gifts. 


AS  A  MAN  OF  LETTERS. 


AS  A  MAN  OF  LETTERS. 

Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson  inherited  the 
right  to  be  an  author,  for  he  was  a  son  of  the 
Judge  Thompson  whose  "Green  Mountain 
Boys"  has  long  been  a  classic  of  American  youth. 
I  have  the  impression  that  the  son  did  not  greatly 
care  for  this  Hvely  yam  of  his  father's,  and  per- 
haps he  may  even  have  underestimated  the  value 
of  this  unpretending  historical  novel,  which 
(whatever  may  be  its  defects,  and  however  ob- 
vious they  are)  has  proved  itself  to  possess,  at 
least,   one   inestimable   characteristic — vitaHty. 

The  son  was  a  lawyer,  like  the  father,  but 
where  the  elder  Thompson  took  to  fiction  as  a 
relaxation,  the  younger  found  his  relief  in  phi- 
losophy. The  most  of  his  literary  work  was 
done  in  a  department  of  human  endeavor  in 
which  the  present  writer  is  well  aware  that  he 
has  no  qualification  to  act  as  a  critic.  Twice, 
however,  Thompson  brought  his  mind  to  bear 
on  problems  wherein  the  interest  was  not  chiefly 
philosophical.  In  these  two  books  he  grappled 
resolutely  with  subjects  quite  within  the  range 
of  the   average   educated   man.     The   first    of 


72  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

these  two  volumes  was  "The  Philosophy  of  Fic- 
tion in  Literature.  An  Essay,"  published  by 
Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  in  the  fall  of  1890.  The 
second  was  "Politics  in  a  Democracy.  An  Es- 
say," issued  by  the  same  firm,  in  1893. 

Although  the  themes  that  he  thus  chose  to 
consider  were,  one  of  them  literary  and  the  other 
political,  his  manner  in  treating  them  was  phil- 
osophical. In  changing  his  subject,  he  did  not 
change  his  method.  He  had  the  philosophical 
desire  to  go  always  to  the  root  of  the  matter 
and  to  seek  out  first  principles.  He  wanted  to 
get  down  to  bed-rock  and  to  find  out  the  foun- 
dations of  current  belief,  both  in  civics  and  in 
esthetics.  He  wished  to  discover  w^hether  these 
foundations  were  solid  and  four-square  to  all 
the  winds  that  blow.  He  was  not  content  to 
accept  tradition  without  investigation.  He 
needed  to  assure  himself  that  what  he  said 
would  stand  the  test  of  his  own  disinterested 
examination.  He  insisted  on  doing  his  own 
thinking.  As  a  w^riter,  he  had  the  courage  of 
his  convictions;  and  he  never  sw^erved  aside 
in  fear  of  the  goal  to  which  his  own  logic  was 
carryingljhim. 


AS  A  MAN  OF  LETTERS.  73 

He  was  as  independent  in  his  criticism  of 
contemporary  fiction  as  he  was  in  his  criti- 
cism of  contemporary  politics.  Interesting  and 
suggestive  as  was  "Politics  in  a  Democracy,"  it 
was  not  more  interesting  or  more  suggestive 
than  the  "Philosophy  of  Fiction  in  Literature." 
And  what  gave  value  to  the  one  gave  validity 
also  to  the  other : — the  intellectual  independence 
of  the  man.  If  his  political  speculation  led  him  to 
the  conclusion  that  in  a  modem  democracy  the 
Boss  is  inevitable,  he  said  so  frankly  and  gave 
his  reasons  for  the  faith  that  was  in  him.  If  his 
literary  speculation  led  him  to  the  conclusion 
that  from  certain  aspects  the  Waverly  novels 
were  doubtfully  moral,  he  was  not  afraid  to  say 
what  he  thought  and  to  explain  clearly  why  he 
thought  so.  He  declared  boldly  that  Scott  was 
"the  most  successful  of  any  Avriter  in  making 
homicide  charming  and  in  elevating  things  to  the 
rank  of  demigods."  He  asserted  as  boldly  that 
Scott's  heroes,  "from  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion 
through  the  list,  are  chiefly  brutal  ruflSians,  over 
whom  the  false  splendor  of  the  ideals  of  chivalry 
has  cast  a  glamor"  ("Philosophy  of  Fiction," 
p.  164). 


J 

\ 


74  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

These  statements  are  Wi'^holesome  and  needful, 
and  stimulating.  But  Thompson  was  too  care- 
ful a  thinker  and  too  cautious  a  philosopher 
not  to  try  and  answer  the  obvious  question, 
Why  it  is  the  Scott  novels  are  felt  to  do  more 
good  than  harm  on  the  whole?  At  bottom 
Thompson's  defence  of  the  "Waverly  Novels" 
w^as  of  the  same  paradoxical  character  that 
Macaulay  found  in  Lamb's  defence  of  the 
Restoration  comedies.  It  amounts  to  little 
more  than  a  statement  of  "the  remoteness  of 
the  danger  of  anyone  being  corrupted  by 
Scott's  representations  of  character."  It  is  to 
be  noted  that  so  shrewd  an  observer  as  Mr.  S.  L. 
Clemens  is  of  opinion  that  these  very  character- 
istics of  the  "  Waverly  Novels," — the  bloodshed, 
the  sham  chivalry,  the  bunco-heroism — abund- 
ant in  most  of  them — had  worked  immeasur- 
able harm  in  the  society  of  our  Southern  States. 

But  that  Thompson  should  have  ventured 
to  suggest  an  opinion  so  opposed  to  that  held 
sacredly  by  most  of  those  who  have  written 
in  our  language  about  the  masters  of  fiction, 
and  should  have  raised  the  question  of  the  real 
and  abiding  ethical  eflfect  of  Scott's  romanticist 


AS  A  MAN  OF  LETTERS.  75 

fictions, — this  shows  his  independence  of  judg- 
ment. It  shows  that  Thompson  possessed  what 
is  actually  the  prime  qualification  of  the  man  of 
letters — ^he  had  something  to  say.  His  opinions 
w^ere  his  own,  the  result  of  his  own  logical  pro- 
cesses. Whether  they  might  happen  to  be  ortho- 
dox or  heterodox,  was  of  no  concern  to  |him. 
He  had  no  objection  to  row  against  the  current 
of  received  beliefs,  and  he  had  also  no  unwilling- 
ness to  float  with  it,  if  the  stream  was  flowing 
toward  the  point  he  wished  to  reach.  He  was 
never  guilty  of  the  cheap  and  easy  aflectation  of 
going  counter  to  public  opinion,  merely  to  make 
himself  conspicuous.  Often  he  had  to  brace  him- 
self to  oppose  the  momentum  of  the  majority; 
but  he  never  did  this  wantonly,  freakishly,  from 
mere  lust  of  singularity.  He  w^as  altogether 
above  any  inexpensive  hypocrisy  of  this  sort. 
Indeed,  his  sincerity  was  quite  equal  to  his  inde- 
pendence. Sometimes,  so  it  has  seemed  to  me, 
he  may  have  relished  the  isolation  of  a  philo- 
sophical outpost;  but  he  had  thrust  himself 
forward  to  the  skirmish  line,  not  as  a  guerrilla, 
but  as  a  pioneer,  helping  to  clear  the  way  for 
the  advance  of  the  main  body. 


J 


76  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

His  books  are  well  made  and  well  written. 
They  have  a  carefully  articulated  skeleton,  not 
paraded  fatiguingly,  rather  concealed  (as  a  de- 
cent skeleton  should  be),  and  yet  sustaining  the 
work  and  giving  it  strength.  They  are  clear  in 
diction,  simple  and  direct,  easy  to  read  and  easy 
to  understand.  Thompson  strove  for  no  tor- 
tured felicity  of  epithet,  no  strenuous  colloca- 
tion of  unexpected  adjectives.  His  style  was 
an  instrument  always  adequate  to  the  expres- 
sion of  his  thoughts ;  and  it  was  always  to  the 
adequate  expression  of  his  thought  that  he  gave 
his  chief  attention  w^hen  he  was  engaged  in  com- 
position. His  books, — and  by  his  books  here  I 
mean  the  two  volumes  I  have  been  considering, 
the  essay  on  the  "Philosophy  of  Fiction"  and 
that  on  "Politics  in  a  Democracy" — are,  there- 
fore, to  be  classed  with  the  works  which  are  of 
value  for  what  they  tell  us,  and  not  with  the 
works  which  are  of  value  merely  for  the  manner 
of  the  telling. 


^^^MtM^ 


Columbia  University,  New  York. 


AS  KNOWN  TO  A  FRIEND. 


AS  KNOWN  TO  A  FRIEND. 

In  the  autumn  of  1885,  traveling  with  some 
members  of  my  family,  I  took  the  train  at  Lau- 
sanne for  Villeneuve,  on  Lake  Geneva.  We 
found  a  gentleman  already  in  the  compartment 
— ^he  was  the  only  occupant  besides  ourselves. 
It  was  growing  dark,  and  he  sat  near  the  lamp 
reading  a  newspaper.  Presumably  he  could 
not  understand  English,  and  we  continued  our 
conversation  as  though  we  were  alone.  After 
a  while  the  little  girl  of  our  party  grew  w^eary 
and  peevish.  We  had  come  all  the  way  from 
Berne  that  afternoon.  She  was  taken  on  the 
lap  of  an  aunt  and  amused  with  the  old,  unfail- 
ing jingles  of  our  English  Mother  Goose  and 
those  baby  tales  that  have  soothed  generations 
of  children  from  the  glacial  epoch  to  this  time, 
for  aught  anybody  knows.  When  the  story- 
teller reached  the  "cunny-bunny  blackberry," 
the  gentleman  opposite,  who  had  not  shown 
any  sign  of  understanding  English,  laid  down 
his  paper — it  proved  to  be  the  London  Times — 
and  laughed  with  the  gentle  laughter  of  a  man 


80  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

who  feels  the  STAreet  memories  of  his  childhood 
stealing  over  him  in  a  strange  land. 

"It  is  long  since  I  heard  that  story,"  he  said, 
apologetically,  and  with  an  accent  that  was 
not  that  of  an  habitual  reader  of  the  London 
Times.  In  a  minute  w^e  had  fraternized  with  a 
countryman,  as  lonesome  Americans  abroad 
are  wont  to  fraternize.  He  and  we  knew  the 
same  people,  and  knew  about  one  another.  By 
the  time  Mr.  Thompson  alighted  at  Montreux, 
where  he  and  Mrs.  Thompson  w^ere  sojourning, 
we  were  well  acquainted,  and,  as  ours  was  the 
next  station,  w^e  had  many  chances  to  meet  in 
the  weeks  that  followed.  Nothing  could  have 
been  more  pleasant  to  me  than  -walking  the 
mountain  paths,  among  the  vineyards  about 
Montreux,  with  one  whose  knowledge  w^as  so 
extensive,  whose  mind  was  active  on  so  many 
sides,  and  w^hose  manners  were  so  genial. 

It  was  about  two  years  later  that  I  went  to 
live  in  the  Chelsea  apartment  house,  in  New 
York,  and  found,  to  my  delight,  that  the  neigh- 
bor almost  overhead  w^as  my  friend  of  the  long 
walks  among  the  Swiss  vineyards.  For  years 
we    lived   in    neighborhood,    and    the    chance 


AS  KNOWN  TO  A  FRIEND.  81 

acquaintance  at  Lausanne  became  a  firm  friend, 
dispensing  sympathy,  when  I  was  in  sorrow, 
and  giving  good  counsel  when  I  w^as  in  situa- 
tions of  perplexity.  How  well  I  remember  his 
kindness !  When  I  was  in  vexatious  and  trying 
circumstances,  and  dwelling,  for  weeks,  alone 
in  my  rooms,  he  would  come,  frequently,  and 
persuade  me  to  a  cheerful  evening  in  his  apart- 
ment. 

I  used  to  wonder  at  the  range  of  his  reading. 
The  last  essay  in  philosophy  he  would  know 
thoroughly,  but  he  knew  just  as  well  the 
mighty  stream  of  novels,  down  even  to  the 
rubbish,  and,  if  the  talk  turned  to  national  or 
municipal  politics,  no  man  could  show  more 
intelligent  information  than  he  did.  His  mind 
eagerly  absorbed  from  all  sources — he  read  the 
papers,  he  seemed  to  know  everything  impor- 
tant in  the  magazines,  and  he  extracted  what- 
ever his  friends  knew^.  And  w^hat  a  range  of 
friends  he  had!  A  member  of  innumerable 
clubs,  the  guest  at  many  dinner  tables,  active 
in  business  and  politics,  he  met  all  sorts  of  peo- 
ple, and  had  an  amount  of  information  on  all 
kinds  of  subjects,  great  and  small,  that  I  have 


82  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

hardly  ever  seen  equaled.  I  once  heard  a  lady 
describe  him  as  a  most  knowing  man. 

His  mental  energy  seems  to  me,  as  I  recall  it, 
almost  incredible.  Besides  his  law  practice  and 
his  private  business,  and  his  complicated  social 
life,  and  his  vast  reading,  he  found  time  to  be, 
as  I  have  been  told,  distinguished  for  his  Latin 
scholarship ;  he  wrote  volumes  on  metaphysical 
subjects  that  attracted  the  attention  of  think- 
ers, and  other  valuable  books  on  literary  and 
political  themes;  he  was  for  some  years  the 
active  president  of  the  Nineteenth  Century 
Club,  and  for  other  years  the  most  laborious 
and  energetic  secretary  of  the  Authors  Club. 
He  served  on  committees,  taking  the  labor- 
ing oar,  and  withal  his  perpetually  active 
mind  never  showed  signs  of  flagging,  under 
burdens  that  would  have  killed  half  a  dozen 
ordinary  men. 

Most  busy  men  are  obliged  to  evade  a  little 
their  early  friendships,  for  the  attentions  of 
friendship  are  often  a  strain  upon  a  mind  al- 
ready overwhelmed.  But  Mr.  Thompson  was 
preeminently  a  friend.  No  man  ever  had  more 
friends,  and  no  man  was  ever  more  ready  to 


AS  KNOWN  TO  A   FRIEND.  83 

serve  his  friends.  It  was  a  matter  of  laughter 
with  some  of  us  that  Mr.  Thompson  was  always 
introducing  some  college  classmate  we  had  never 
before  heard  of.  Everybody  that  was  ever  associ- 
ated intimately  with  him  in  the  way  of  business 
or  of  pleasure  was  attracted  by  him,  and  he  w^as 
hospitable  to  all  kinds  of  friends,  finding  some- 
thing in  common  with  all.  Few  things  human 
were  foreign  to  him.  This  friendliness  often  made 
him  tolerant  in  his  judgment  of  public  men. 
He  knew  and  liked  a  man  on  his  good  side,  and 
he  found  it  hard  to  be  too  severe  on  his  public 
course.  If  anything  could  ever  have  persuaded 
him  to  act  in  a  way  unworthy  of  him  it  would 
have  been  this  general  friendliness  and  catholic 
tolerance.  But  he  stood  this  test.  The  leaders 
of  his  party,  who  were  his  friends  in  a  way, 
once  arranged  to  have  him  take  a  seat  in  a 
State  Convention.  At  the  last  moment  he 
learned  that  he  was  to  go  under  instructions 
to  do  what  he  did  not  think  right.  "I  am  not 
that  kind  of  a  man,"  was  his  answer,  and  he 
was  left  out  of  the  delegation. 

His    public    and    semi-public    services    were 
manv.      I    will  recur  to    the  one  I  knew  the 


84.  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

most  about.  Some  years  ago  he  was  elected 
Secretary  of  the  Authors  Club.  The  club,  under 
a  series  of  unfavorable  circumstances,  had  lost 
ground,  to  say  the  least.  Mr.  Thompson  made 
himself  felt  from  the  first  week  of  his  secretarx'-- 
ship.  He  laid  his  hand  on  every  weak  spot. 
The  first  constitution,  for  which  I  was  partly 
responsible,  had  been  outgrown  and  had  been 
unwisely  amended.  Mr.  Thompson  carried 
through  a  motion  for  a  new  constitution, 
and  elaborated  the  instrument  with  the  advice 
of  his  fellow-committeemen.  He  reduced  the 
business  of  the  club  to  a  system ;  he  became  the 
voluntary  legal  guide  of  the  club  as  a  corpora- 
tion ;  he  took  an  active  part,  as  a  member  of  the 
Library  Committee,  in  developing  and  cata- 
loguing the  library ;  he  secured  for  the  archives 
of  the  association  sketches  of  the  lives  of  the 
members;  he  attended  to  such  details  as  the 
better  printing  of  the  cards  of  invitation  and 
the  Year-book,  and,  without  meddling  with 
w^ork  assigned  to  others,  he  was  the  common 
reservoir  for  information  and  advice,  and  all 
this  while  carrying  on  many  other  activities.  He 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  Authors  attain 


AS  KNOWN  TO   A   FRIEND.  85 

an  unprecedented  prosperity,  partly  through  his 
own  pervasive  activity  and  stimulating  energy. 
To  a  mind  of  large  intelligence,  rare  versatil- 
ity, and  almost  incredible  activity,  he  joined  an 
honorable  nature  and  a  generous  heart.  No 
man  in  New  York  would  be  missed  in  so  many 
spheres  of  action  and  social  life,  and  by  so 
manv  friends. 


/tOuJA 


f/ 


^v  U^ 


AS   A   PHILOSOPHIC   THINKER. 


AS  A  PHILOSOPHIC  THINKER. 

As  a  philosophic  thinker,  Daniel  Greenleaf 
Thompson  was  clear,  comprehensive  and  pro- 
found. He  was  eclectic  in  spirit,  and  could  see 
truth  in  all  systems  of  thought.  His  mind  was 
sympathetic  and  reconciliative  rather  than  com- 
bative and  destructive,  and  his  disposition  was 
to  find  the  truths  in  opposing  conceptions  and 
to  unite  them  in  a  larger  synthesis,  rather  than 
to  dwell  on  the  errors  and  contradictions  of 
theories  and  systems.  With  his  clearness  of  per- 
ception and  large  knowledge,  combined  with 
analytical  ability',  he  was  a  good  critic,  but  his 
mind  was  too  constructive,  too  synthetic  to 
allow  him  to  be  satisfied  with  mere  criticism. 
He  w^as  an  admirer,  and  in  no  small  sense,  a  dis- 
ciple of  Herbert  Spencer,  whose  thought  he 
helped  to  expound  and  whose  work  was  highly 
valued  by  "our  great  philosopher." 

Mr.  Thompson  belonged  to  the  experimental 
school  of  philosophy,  but  not  as  it  was  held  be- 
fore it  was  modified  hj  the  conception  of  evolu- 
tion— by  evolution  applied  to  the  mind  as  well 
as  to  organic  structure.    In  his  great  work  on 


90  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

Psychology,  better  known  and  more  appreciated 
in  England  than  in  this  country,  Mr.  Thomp- 
son, following  Spencer,  and  adding  some  origi- 
nal reflections,  shows,  with  admirable  clearness, 
how^  what  was  once  experimental  has  become  a 
priori,  how  the  acquisitions  of  centuries  have 
become  organized  as  aptitudes  and  predisposi- 
tion in  the  race. 

He  recognized  a  transcendental  element  in 
mind,  but  he  maintained  that  man  as  phenom- 
enally known  is  a  product  of  an  evolutionary 
process,  and  that  the  explanation  of  the  individ- 
ual must  be  in  the  race,  in  the  sequent  order 
which  culminated  in  man — not  in  a  supernat- 
ural intrusion,  which  created  man  de  novo,  and 
gave  to  him  a  nature  without  genetic  relation- 
ship with  ancestral  life. 

Mr.  Thompson  was  acosmic  philosopher.  His 
theism  was  all  embracing — in  a  large  sense, 
pantheistic;  for  with  him  God  was  "the  infinite 
and  eternal  energy  from  which  all  things  proceed" 
— the  principle  of  activity  and  life  immanent  in 
all  phenomena,  from  the  movement  of  a  pebble  to 
the  revolution  of  a  planet,  from  the  sensation  of 
a  worm  to  the  genius  of  a  Shakespeare. 


AS  A   PHILOSOPHIC  THINKER.  91 

Mr.  Thompson  was  hopeful,  and  no  pessimist. 
If  he  was  not  an  optimist,  he  w^as  a  meliorist. 
He  believed  that  the  world  is  improving,  and 
that  human  effort  can  contribute  to  its  advance- 
ment. He  did  not  regard  the  "bank  and  shoal 
of  time"  as  the  certain  limits  of  the  soul's  exist- 
ence. He  saw  in  physical  phenomena  indica- 
tions of  some  kind  of  life  beyond  the  dissolution 
of  the  body.  This  with  him  was  a  hope,  a  faith, 
but  he  would  not  dogmatize  on  the  subject.  He 
believed  that  back  of  the  material  is  the  spirit- 
ual, that  underlying  the  phenomenal  is  the 
nominal,  and  that  the  essential  element  in  man 
is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting.  As  a  philos- 
opher Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson  is  most  ap- 
preciated by  those  real  thinkers,  who  knew  him 
best.  But  he  was  a  man  of  heart,  as  well  as  of 
intellect,  and  by  those  among  his  friends  who 
possess  both,  he  will  be  remembered,  while  they 
live,  as  one  of  the  brightest  and  noblest  of  men. 


(;^/^^/X'.*^ 


FRIEND,  PARTNER,  CLIENT. 


FRIEND,  PARTNER,  CLIENT. 

Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson  was  but  forty- 
seven  years  of  age  when  he  died,  yet  he  had  ac- 
complished more  intellectual  work  than  most 
men  do  in  three  score  and  ten.  He  had  attained 
high  rank  in  his  profession,  and  was  one  of  the 
foremost,  if  not  the  foremost  authority  in  psy- 
chology in  this  country.  His  mind  w^as  decid- 
edly of  a  philosophical  bent.  He  devoted  the 
hours  which  others  gave  to  pleasure  and  recrea- 
tion, to  the  study  of  the  intricate  science  of  psy- 
chology. As  the  result  of  his  application  and 
methodical  labors  he  published  in  1884  his  great 
work,  entitled '  *  A  System  of  Psychology, ' '  in  two 
volumes  of  600  pages  each,  which  received  the 
highest  commendation  from  the  savants  of  that 
science,  and  among  others  from  Bain  and  Her- 
bert Spencer.  This  work  was  followed,  in  1886, 
b}"  another  in  the  field  of  ethics,  entitled  the 
''Problem  of  Evil;"  two  years  later,  in  1888, 
appeared  another  thoughtful  book  displaying 
deep  psychological  research,  entitled  "Religious 
Sentiments  of  the  Human  Mind."  In  1889  his 
"Social  Progress"  was  published,  and  in  1892 


96  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

his  "Philosophy  of  Fiction  in  Literature,"  and 
finally  in  1893  appeared  a  work  from  his  pen  of 
a  more  popular  nature,  yet  illustrating  some  of 
his  philosphical  ideas,  the  title  of  which  is 
"  Politics  in  a  Democracy."  All  this  time  he  fol- 
lowed, without  interruption,  his  profession,  be- 
sides delivering  various  lectures  before  learned 
bodies  in  this  city  and  Brooklyn,  and  contrib- 
uting thoughtful  articles  for  magazines  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe.  His  facility  for  literary 
work  was  great.  He  accomplished  so  much  be- 
cause of  his  systematic  methods  and  his  excel- 
lent control  of  his  physical  and  mental  powers. 
He  never  appeared  to  be  overworked  or  hurried. 
To  a  casual  acquaintance  Mr.  Thompson  ap- 
peared rather  as  a  man  who  loved  leisure  and 
personal  comfort,  than  as  an  industrious  stu- 
dent. He  was  most  methodical  in  all  he  did. 
He  w^as  a  ready  thinker,  speaker,  and  writer. 
He  divided  up  his  time  with  system  and  order ; 
he  had  his  regular  hours  for  his  literary  work, 
day  in  and  day  out;  then  he  repaired  to  his 
office  work,  where  he  gave  his  concentrated 
attention  to  the  duties  of  his  profession,  and 
the  evenings  he  devoted  to  the  society  of  his 


FRIEND,  PARTNER,  CLIENT.         97 

wife,  his  friends  and  to  miscellaneous  literary  oc- 
cupations. His  amusements  were  chiefly^  intel- 
lectual. For  several  years  he  was  president  of 
the  Nineteenth  Century  Club,  succeeding  Court- 
landt  Palmer,  the  founder  of  that  club.  He  was 
for  years,  until  his  death,  the  secretary  and  a 
member  of  the  Governing  Council  of  the  Authors 
Club.  This  position  required  considerable 
thought,  work,  and  detail,  all  of  which  he  did 
with  that  system  and  ease  so  natural  to  him. 
Annually  he  prepared  for  publication  the  Au- 
thors Club  book,  which  contains,  under  the 
name  of  each  member,  the  books  he  has  w^ritten, 
with  the  date  of  publication,  and  has  genuine 
bibliographical  value. 

I  first  became  acquainted  with  Mr,  Thomp- 
son in  1876,  when  he  entered  as  managing  clerk 
the  office  of  the  law  firm  of  which  I  was  a  mem- 
ber. We  soon,  thereafter,  became  associated  as 
partners,  and  from  that  time  our  friendship  con- 
tinued in  close  intimacy  until  his  death.  He 
had  a  wonderful  charm  of  manner ;  he  was  kind, 
sincere,  and  considerate. 

I  am  asked  to  describe  his  general  character. 
This  it  is  not  possible  for  me  to  do  without 


98  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

writing  a  panegyric,  and  this  I  know  would  be 
distasteful  to  him  if  living.  It  is  the  source  of 
the  greatest  satisfaction  and  pleasure  to  me  to 
have  been  so  long  and  intimately  associated 
with  him.  Upon  my  retirement  from  the  prac- 
tice of  the  law  he  became  my  legal  adviser,  and 
in  my  literary  work  w^as  a  helpful  guide  and 
critic.  He  had  a  calm,  cheerful  temperament 
and  a  sympathetic  heart.  He  took  a  deep  in- 
terest in  the  welfare  of  his  friends,  and  no  as- 
sistance he  could  render  them  was  denied,  but 
always  freely  and  willingly  given.  He  had  all 
the  qualities  that  constitute  greatness,  and  espe- 
cially those  which  would  have  fitted  him  to  have 
become  a  judge  of  the  highest  rank.  His  mind 
w^as  well  equipped  with  legal  principles,  and  his 
finely  developed  sense  of  right  and  justice,  free 
from  all  narrow  restraints  and  partisan  views, 
marked  him  for  a  judicial  career.  As  an  advo- 
cate he  was  less  well  qualified  than  as  a  safe, 
reliable  and  conservative  cotmselor,  and  for 
that  reason  his  triumphs  were  of  a  less  con- 
spicuous order ;  they  w^ere  as  an  advisor  rather 
than  as  a  trial  lawyer.  He  was  more  eifective 
before  the  court,  or  in  cases  of  appeal,  than  in 


FRIEND,  PARTNER,  CLIENT.         99 

jury  cases;  his  philosophical  studies  inclined  him 

to  clear  and  logical  elucidations  of  evidence  and 

principles,  rather  than  to  the  strife  of  the  trial 

court. 

Like  his   father,  the  author  of  the  "  Green 

Mountain  Boys,"  he  had  natural  literary  gifts, 
and,  like  him,  he  attained  a  greater  reputation 
outside  of  his  profession  than  in  it,  due,  no 
doubt,  to  circumstances  that  shape  the  lives 
of  us  all,  rather  than  to  direction.  His  ami- 
able temperament,  his  kind  considerateness  and 
unselfishness,  united  with  his  admirable  quali- 
ties of  mind,  not  only  attached  many  friends 
to  him,  but  he  had  the  rare  quality  that  so  few 
possess  of  attaching  his  friends  to  each  other ; 
so  that  on  the  day  when  from  far  and  near  his 
friends  assembled  to  pay  the  last  respects  to  his 
remains,  it  was  apparent  that  the  dead  they 
had  come  to  mourn  had  left  to  the  living  a 
legacy  of  mutual  esteem  and  friendship. 


V)(><s.cw  7^,7^' 


W\kAA 


LETTERS  AND  TELEGRAMS. 


LETTERS  AND  TELEGRAMS. 

Madison,  Wis.,  January  22,  1898. 
Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

Though  circumstances  have  denied  me  the 
preparation — within  the  time  fixed  for  the  issu- 
ance of  your  memorial  volume — of  a  fitting  and 
satisfactory  expression  of  the  respect  and 
tenderness  with  which  my  heart  treasures  the 
image  of  your  deceased  husband,  I  am  very 
grateful  for  the  privilege  your  letter  gives  me  of 
following  the  train  of  other  friends  who  will 
worthily  honor  his  cherished  memory,  and  of 
laying,  even  thus  hastily,  my  sprig  of  rosemary 
among  the  garlands  of  loving  remembrance  on 
his  tomb. 

Back  in  the  old  Green  Hills  of  Vermont  our 
roots  were  nurtured  in  the  same  soil  and  like 
principles  and  lines  of  thought  set  indelibly  in 
our  characters.  His  father  and  mine,  the  fami- 
lies of  both,  were  familiar  friends  in  days  long 
gone;  and,  though  the  migration  hither  in 
1851  of  my  father,  with  his  flock,  for  a  time  put 
distance  between  them,  yet  it  so  happened  that 


104  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

here  came,  also,  after  the  interval  of  years,  the 
widowed  mother,  a  sister  and  a  brother  of  Mr. 
Thompson,  and  the  renewed  pleasures  of  inter- 
course were  thenceforward  unbrokenly  enjoyed 
until,  one  after  another,  the  links  of  the  circle 
disappeared  through  the  portals  of  the  grave. 
An  innate  consciousness  of  his  powers,  how- 
ever, always  overruled  by  winning  gentleness 
and  modesty,  naturally  drew  your  husband  to 
the  great  center  of  affairs,  where,  immersed  in 
professional  labors,  to  which  he  added  the 
adornment  of  philosophical  and  literary  studies, 
he  passed  his  life.  But  the  ties  of  family  love 
drew  him  also  hither  from  time  to  time,  and  so 
distance  of  residence  failed  to  impair  the  sympa- 
thy of  friendship  which  he  shared,  as  giver  and 
receiver,  in  full  measure  among  us.  In  more 
recent  years  I  met  him  elsewhere,  too,  and, 
though  in  the  fitful  hurry  of  these  modem  days 
of  electrified  life  our  meetings  w^ere  but  too 
short,  as  now  sadly  seen  in  retrospect,  the 
beliefs,  feelings,  and  traditions  we  held  in  com- 
mon united  us  so  closelj-^  that  a  touch  of  the 
hand,  a  glance  of  the  eye  were  a  communion  to 
keep  our  bond  firm  and  hearts  warm. 


LETTERS  AND  TELEGRAMS.       105 

So  it  is  that,  while  I  know  the  merits  of  his 
work  and  gratefully  rejoice  that  fitter  pens  will 
record  the  excellence  of  his  literary  legacies  and 
tell  his  high  estimation,  at  the  bar  and  in  social 
life,  I  am  thinking  of  him  now^  more  as  the 
friend  whose  sympathy  met  mine  at  every  point 
of  contact,  and  would  inscribe  on  his  monu- 
ment rather  the  simple  tribute  of  affectionate 
remembrance. 

He  w^as,  to  me,  singularly  attractive  in  the 
gentle  ways  which  gave  his  companionship  a 
constant  charm.  Always  appreciative,  inter- 
esting and  pleasing  in  conversation,  both  easily 
original  and  responsive  in  thought,  it  was  a 
winsome  kindness  of  manner  that  carried  the 
flattery  of  esteem  and  regard  to  one's  heart 
without  open  words,  which  made  him  a  com- 
rade whom  love  would  tie  to. 

I  recall,  now,  in  vivid  recollection,  the  delight- 
ful hours  I  passed  with  him  when  driving 
together,  during  his  last  visit  here,  in  the  glori- 
ous sunshine  of  a  perfect  day,  along  a  winding 
road  by  the  margin  of  our  Lake  Mendota, 
where  pictures  of  Nature  Vv^ere  spread  in  a  suc- 
cession of  beautiful  views  as  we  moved  along. 
14 


106  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

The  genial  airs,  the  exquisite  coloring,  the 
delicious  combinations  of  clouds  and  sunshine 
on  earth  and  water  in  the  continually  changing 
scene  affected  him  to  a  rapture  of  enjoyment 
which  excited  his  mind  to  brilliant  and  elevated 
expression  that  told  most  happily  the  sweet- 
ness of  his  inner  soul. 

Sweeter  still  be  his  visions  now,  and  his 
ioys  evermore! 

And  may  you  find,  dear  Madame,  in  your 
contemplation  of  him  in  his  manhood  as  he 
was,  in  visions  of  him  in  the  arms  of  Infinite 
Mercy  and  Love,  consolations  for  the  sorrow 
which  none  may  share  with  you. 

Most  respectfully  and  kindly. 


letters  and  telegrams.  107 

Joshua's  Rock, 
Lake  George,  2  July,  1897. 

My  Dear  Friend: 

*  *  *  We  know  nothing  of  any  details. 
We  only  know  you  have  suffered  this  great  loss 
and  break-up  of  your  life  and  that  it  came  sud- 
denly. We  know  that  loneliness  and  sorrow  is 
your  lot  and  our  hearts  go  out  to  you.  The  old 
times  of  pleasant  companionship  come  back 
vividly  to  me.  I  shall  not  any  more  enjoy  the 
pleasant  evenings  in  your  apartment,  discussing 
the  last  books  or  pictures,  or  talking  at  random 
of  other  days  and  other  lands.  I  remember 
how^  you  and  Mr.  Thompson  made  me  at  home 
with  you  when  I  was  all  alone,  and  how  he 
would  come  to  the  door  and  smilingly  say: 
"  The  madame  thinks  it  would  be  better  for  you 
to  come  and  sit  with  us  this  evening."  Then, 
too,  at  other  times,  we  all  four  enjoyed  our 
evenings  with  you  or  with  us.  It  seems  a  great 
break,  now  that  he  is  gone.  We  fear  that  you 
will  leave  New  York;  and,  at  any  rate,  death 
has  broken  into  our  circle.  It  is  hard  to  think 
of  a  mind  so  ceaselesslv  active  and  a  heart  so 


108  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

faithfully  friendly  as  stilled  forever.  There  are 
many  who  will  miss  him,  but,  outside  his  own 
house,  none,  perhaps,  more  than  we. 

I  have  not  written  you  the  ordinary  letter 
of  condolence.  It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  tell 
you  how  much  I  esteem  and  like  Mr.  Thomp- 
son. I  cannot  offer  you  consolations ;  they  do 
not  soften  the  severity  of  such  a  sorrow.  But 
I  can  assure  you  of  the  sincere  sympathy  of  a 

friend. 

Yours  sincerely, 

Edward  Eggleston. 


58  William  St.,  July  10. 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

I  have  just  heard  the  terrible  news.  You 
have  lost  the  best  of  husbands  and  I  the  best 
friend  I  ever  had.  You  have  my  deepest  sym- 
pathy. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Walter  S.  Logan. 


LETTERS  AND  TELEGRAMS.       109 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  July  13,  1897. 
Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

Of  the  many  who  will  oflfer  their  sincere  con- 
dolence in  your  sorrow^,  few^  knew  Mr.  Thomp- 
son longer,  and  none  loved  him  more  than  I. 
Thirty-two  years  is  a  long  time  to  test  a  friend- 
ship, and  this  grew  with  the  years. 

Experience  has  taught  me  that  in  hours  like 
these  w^ords  are  naught.  I  can  only  say  he  was 
my  brother,  and  I  could  not  mourn  one  of  my 
own  blood  more. 

Yours  sincerely, 

H.  L.  Bridgman. 


55  MuNN  Aye., 
East  Orange,  N.  J.,  July  12,  1897. 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

Allow  me,  as  one  who  greatly  admired  and 
loved  your  husband,  to  express  to  you  my 
deepest  sympathy  in  your  bereavement.  The 
world  knows  of  his  ability  and  public  works, 
but  it  was  reserved  for  those  who    met  him 


110  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

socially  and  familiarly  to  discover  his  great 
qualities  of  heart.  Though  my  intercourse 
with  him  was  limited — chiefly  at  the  Authors 
Club — I  shall  always  be  grateful  to  good  Provi- 
dence for  allowing  my  life  to  touch  one  so  noble 
as  his. 

I  am,  my  dear  madame,  with  deepest  sym- 
pathy, 

Sincerely, 

James  M.  Ludlow. 


Convent  Station,  Morris  County, 

July  15,  1897. 
My  Dear  Hutton: 

I  did  not  hear  of  Thompson's  death  until 
Monday.  I  was  shocked  and  truly  grieved.  I 
did  not  know  Thompson  very  well,  but  liked 
him  very  much,  as  every  one  did,  I  am  sure.  He 
seemed  the  very  soul  and  moving  spirit  of  the 
Authors  Club,  and  no  one  could  have  appeared 
more  likely  to  live.  In  my  intercourse  with  him 
I  found  him  of  a  most  generous  spirit — always 
kind  and  reasonable — a  man  I  would  have  been 
glad  to  know  better. 


LETTERS  AND  TELEGRAMS.       Ill 

I  am  not  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Thompson, 
nor  do  I  know  her  address,  but  if  you  should 
see  or  communicate  with  her,  I  will  ask  you  to 
assure  her  of  my  deep  sympathy  with  her.  I  do 
not  know  when  I  have  so  much  felt  the  loss  of  a 
fellow  author. 

With  kind  regards  to  Mrs.  Hutton,  sincerely 

yours, 

Frank  R.  Stockton. 


Lewiston,  N.  Y.,  19th  July,  1897. 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

In  forwarding  to  you  this  note  of  Mr.  Stock- 
ton, may  I  add  a  word  of  my  own  ?  My  asso- 
ciation with  Mr.  Thompson  in  the  management 
of  the  Authors  Club  was  so  pleasant  and  so 
intimate  that  I  feel  that  I  have  sustained  a  per- 
sonal loss,  as  I  grieve  with  as  well  as  for  you. 
His  place  in  the  Club  no  man  can  fill,  and  the 
world  is  sadder  without  him.  I  beg  to  sub- 
scribe myself  in  sincerest  sympathy, 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

Lawrence  Hutton. 


112  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

461  E.  Twenty-First  St.,  N.  Y. 

July  13,  1897. 
My  Very  Dear  Friend: 

*    *    *    Death  is  and  always  will  be  sudden, 

and  there  seems  to    be    little  to  console  one. 

Time,  and  that  only  partiallj',  works  a  cure.     I 

trust  you  have  some  faith  or  philosophy  that 

will  give  you  strength  and  courage  for  the  trials 

of  your  life.     I  know  by  experience  how  helpful 

they  may  be. 

Very  sincerely, 

M.  L.  Holbrook. 


Oxford,  Me.,  July  19,  1897. 
My  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

In  the  presence  of  this  calamity  there  is  really 
not  an3rthing  any  one  can  say,  and  I  shall  not 
attempt  to  say  anything.  There  is  no  real  com- 
fort to  be  found  in  a  case  of  complete  loss  such 
as  this.  But  yet  the  very  suddenness,  absolute- 
ness and  blankness  of  the  event  has  its  own  sug- 
gestion of  hope.  It  seems  to  me  to  indicate 
strongly  that  the  separation  is  only  a  temporary 
one.     Daniel  is  gone;  that  is  the  plain  fact  just 


LETTERS  AND  TELEGRAMS.       113 

now ;  but  he  can't  be  gone  for  an  eternal  stay, 
or  even  for  a  very  long  stay,  or  he  wouldn't 
here  have  been  lent  in  the  full  maturity  of  his 
powers,  in  haste  and  casualness,  as  it  were. 
Anyhow,  that  is  my  philosophy,  and  all  the  con- 
solation I  can  offer.  You  will  find  him  w^aiting 
just  outside  the  door  of  life  whenever  you  join 
him  in  spirit ;  waiting  later,  when  you  join  him 
in  reality.  I  cherish  a  little  meeting  on  the  ele- 
vated stairs  with  Daniel— just  a  month  ago  last 
Friday — a  most  perfect  bit  of  a  meeting  and 
greeting.  After  all,  my  dear  Mrs.  Thompson, 
what  is  this  life  but  a  stairway  on  which  w^e 
meet  and  which  leads  to  a  higher  life  beyond  ? 
Your  friend, 

F.  H.  Stoddard. 


Cambridge,  Mass.,  July  12,  1897. 

Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

I  am  deeply  grieved  and  inexpressibly  shocked 

by  the  sudden  death  of  my  uncle,  whom  I  always 

hoped  to  know^  better  than  I  did,  and  whom  I 

always  respected  highly  for  his  great  abilities, 

15 


114  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

and  liked  for  his  unfailing  charm  of  manner. 
That  he  should  die  so  young,  at  a  time  when 
life  still  held  for  him  so  many  possibilities  of 
happiness  and  service,  seems  peculiarly  tragic 
and  hard  to  bear,  I  wish  to  assure  you  of  my 
deepest  sympathy  w^ith  you  in  your  sorrow 
for  a  brilliant  career  cut  short,  and  for  your 
own  personal  loss  as  a  wife.    *    *    * 

I    am,  my  dear  Mrs.   Thompson,  with   the 
greatest  sympathy  and  respect. 

Yours, 
Charles  Minor  Thompson. 


41  Wall  St.,  New  York,  July  30. 

*  *  *  Mr.  Thompson  w^as  so  uniformly 
kind  and  always  bright  and  encouraging,  one 
of  the  most  lovable  men  in  the  whole  world. 
Many  of  the  friends  I  most  depended  on  have 
gone  within  the  last  few  years,  and  now  that 
my  family  are  so  far  away,  I  find  I  have  almost 
no  one  I  can  go  and  talk  with.  So  far  as  Mr. 
Thompson  w^as  personally  concerned,  he  had 
accomplished  the  work  of  a  lifetime,  and  in  that 
sense  his  death  was  not  premature.    But  all  the 


LETTERS  AND  TELEGRAMS.       115 

more,  his  departure  leaves  grief  and  bereave- 
ment in  the  hearts  of  his  friends,  who  hoped,  in 
the  less  hurried  days  to  come,  to  enjoy  and  de- 
pend upon  his  society  and  friendship. 

I  know  full  well  that  the  loss  which  all  his 
friends  feel  is  but  light  compared  to  yours.  It 
is  a  fortunate  thing  that  in  such  unbearable 
trouble  and  separation,  we  have  at  last  a  hope 
of  reunion,  and,  in  any  event,  that  grief  cannot 
endure  forever,  because  at  last  even  to  the  long- 
est life  comes  final  rest. 

With  fond  and  faithful  remembrance  of  the 

dear  friend  who  is  gone,  and  sincere  sympathy 

for  you,  I  am, 

Sincerely, 

John  K.  Creevey. 


Maplecrest, 
White  Plains,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  1,  1897. 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

I  can  hardly  tell  you  how  shocked  I  was,  on 
the  eve  of  sailing  fi-om  Liverpool,  to  receive 
tidings  of  Daniel's  sudden  death.  I  cannot  yet 
realize  the  fact.    I  am  sitting  on  the  piazza,  just 


116  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

where  we  sat  and  chatted  onlj'^  six  weeks  ago, 
and  my  absence  being  so  brief,  that  I  hardly 
know  I  have  been  away,  makes  it  the  more  diffi- 
cult to  grasp  the  stem  reality  of  any  marked 
changes  having  occurred  meanwhile. 

I  have  know^n  Dan  better  in  late  years  than 
in  college,  even,  and  the  pleasant  acquaintance 
and  cordial  friendship  that  has  ripened  out  of 
our  common  residence  and  frequent  meetings  in 
New  York  will  always  be  a  source  of  pleasure 
for  me  to  recall.  His  attainments,  literary  and 
legal,  commanded  my  admiration,  and  from  all 
sides  I  shall  miss  him  as  I  mourned  his  loss. 
You  will  hardly  doubt,  then,  the  continuous 
thought  that  I  have  had  of  you  in  your  afflic- 
tion, nor  the  sincerity  of  my  sympathy,  which 
now  my  pen  can  inadequately  convey.  *  *  * 
William  Reynolds  Brown. 


Madison,  Wis.,  July  10. 
Dear  Sister  Henrietta: 

I  cannot  express  to  you  how^  deeply  shocked 
and  grieved  I  was  to  learn  from  this  morning's 
dispatch  of  the  death  of  your  husband.     I  think 


LETTERS  AND  TELEGRAMS.       117 

my  dear  brother  must  have  passed  away  very 
suddenly,  for  if  he  had  been  dangerously  sick  for 
any  length  of  time  you  would  have  advised  me. 
My  own  grief  at  the  loss  of  his  sister  Alma,  who 
was  my  beloved  wife,  teaches  me  how  great 
must  be  your  sorrow.  *  *  * 
With  heartfelt  sympathy,  I  am, 
Your  brother, 

George  D.  Burrows. 


New  York,  July  15. 

*  *  *  Words  are  empty  of  meaning  at  such 
a  moment.  Death  is  pitiless;  but  even  death 
cannot  take  away  the  memory  of  the  happy 
years  you  have  had  together,  and  as  time  goes 
on  this  memory  w^ill  prove  an  increasing  store 
of  comfort  and  consolation.  I  esteemed  it  a 
high  privilege  to  feel  that  Mr.  Thompson 
counted  me  among  his  friends,  and  I  hope  that 
you  will  permit  me  to  be  of  any  and  every  ser- 
vice to  you,  that  one  of  your  or  his  sincere 
friends  could  render. 

Faithfully  yours, 

Horace  E.  Deming. 


118        daniel  greenleaf  thompson. 

Marienbad,  Bohemia,  Austria, 
Hotel  Weimar,  July  16, 1897. 

Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

It  is  difficult  to  put  into  words  the  pain  and 
shock  which  the  announcement  of  the  sud- 
den death  of  your  dear  husband  gave  us  all. 
We  send  you  our  profound  sympathy  in  your 
great  grief.  Mr.  Thompson's  loss  will  be  felt  by 
a  very  large  circle  of  friends  who  knew  him  in 
one  relation  or  another.  I  knew  him  in  many 
ways  and  feel  his  loss  in  all.  May  God  comfort 
you.  My  wife  and  daughter  extend  their  sincere 

sympathy  to  you. 

Very  sincerely, 

Simon  Sterne. 


Wateryille,  N.  H.,  July  18,  1897. 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

I  presume  I  am  indebted  to  your  thoughtful- 
ness  for  my  first  knowledge  of  your  great  sor- 
row. The  shock  and  surprise  were  too  great 
for  immediate  belief  in  the  fact.  "Dan 
Thompson  dead!"  I  keep  repeating  to  myself 


LETTERS  AND  TELEGRAMS.       119 

with  little  real  belief  in  the  words  I  utter.  I 
think  of  our  long  years  of  friendship,  never 
broken,  though  of  late  interrupted.  I  think  ot 
his  ceaseless  activity,  his  bright  attainments, 
and  his  still  higher  ideals.  I  reflect  upon  the 
nobility  and  breadth  of  his  comradeship,  upon 
the  beauty  and  content  of  his  home  life,  and  my 
heart  refuses  to  believe  him  dead.  Rather,  he 
seems  like  the  dead  Hereward,  "alive  forever- 
more,"  alive  in  what  he  did,  and  yet  more  in 
what  he  was.  I  am  glad  that  he  and  you  are 
spared  the  experience  of  declining  strength. 
Better  that  he  should  go  in  the  fullness  of  his 
powers,  his  eyes  undimmed  and  his  natural  force 
unabated,  than  that  he  should  linger,  the 
shadow^  of  w^hat  he  was. 

Be  assured,  my  dear  Mrs.  Thompson,  of  my 
heartiest  sympathy  in  a  loss  which  affects  you 
most  nearly  and  tenderly  of  all  the  wide  circle 
of  mourners.  May  the  consolations  of  God, 
which  are  neither  few  nor  small,  abound  to  you 
more  and  more.  Mrs.  Chickering  unites  with 
me  in  remembrance. 

Cordially  yours, 

Jos.  H.  Chickering. 


120        daniel  greenleaf  thompson. 

Williams  College, 
WiLLiAMSTowN,  Mass.,  July  14,  1897. 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

I  was  greatly  shocked  and  pained  to  find  in  a 
Boston  paper  yesterday  a  notice  of  the  sudden 
death  of  Mr.  Thompson.  Coming  so  soon  after 
the  death  of  Mr.  Brown,  in  Springfield,  this 
news  is  another  w^aming  of  the  uncertainty  of 
life.  The  group  of  friends  who  knew^  each  other 
well  in  Springfield  is  rapidly  thinning.  Mr. 
Thompson  was  a  man  of  remarkable  intellect- 
ual powers.  I  respected  and  admired  him.  He 
was  a  loyal  friend,  ready  to  serve  his  friends 
regardless  of  inconvenience  to  himself.  We  had 
many  happy  hours  together  in  the  old  days,  and 
I  still  recall,  vividly,  the  keenness  of  his  argu- 
ments in  any  discussion.  His  mind  w^as  philo- 
sophical to  a  high  degree,  as  was  shown,  not 
merely  by  his  printed  works  but  by  his  conver- 
sation. His  death  is  a  loss  to  the  world.  All 
his  friends  will  mourn  with  you  in  your  sorrow. 
I  regret  that  I  am  so  far  away  (Northeast  Har- 
bor, Me.)  that  I  cannot  be  present  at  his 
funeral.    And  the  Boston  paper  which  I  saw 


LETTERS  AND  TELEGRAMS.       121 

yesterday,  though  giving  a  somewhat  extended 
account  of  his  life  and  work,  gives  no  particu- 
lars of  his  death.  With  the  deepest  sympathy 
and  regret,  I  remain,    Yours  very  truly, 

O.  M.  Fernald. 


2653  Eyanston  Avenue, 

Chicago,  July  27,  1897. 
Dear  Mrs.  Thompson: 

I  learned  with  deep  sorrow  some  days  ago  of 
the  sudden  death  of  your  husband  on  the  10th 
instant.  Permit  me  to  express  to  you  the  assur- 
ance of  my  sympathy  with  you  in  this  sad  be- 
reavement. I  admired  Mr. Thompson  for  his  abili- 
ties and  attainments,  and  esteemed  him  highly 
for  his  fine  personal  qualities.  I  shall  never 
forget  the  hours  which  I  passed  with  him  and 
with  you  at  two  different  times  at  your  home 
in  the  Chelsea,  and  the  interviews  which  I  had 
with  him  in  his  office.  I  shall  always  remember 
with  pride  that  of  the  two  copies  of  his  Psychol- 
ogy which  were  sent  for  review  to  the  Boston 
press,  one  copy  was  sent  to  me.  Mr.  Thompson 

|6 


122  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

lived  a  most  useful  life,  and  I  deeply  regret  that 
his  earthly  career  has  been  brought  to  a  close 
when  he  could,  had  he  lived,  have  done  much 
more  splendid  work.  My  hope  is,  as  w^as  his, 
that  death  is  a  birth  into  a  higher  life  in  which 
are  united  those  who  lived  here. 

Mrs.  Underwood  joins  me  in  heartfelt  sym- 
pathy and  kind  regards. 

RespecfuUy  yours, 

B.  F.  Underwood. 


42  Warren  St.,  N.  Y.,  July  26,  1897. 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson: 

*  *  *  I  know  no  one  outside  of  my  imme- 
diate family  whose  loss  I  could  feel  more  deeply 
and  whom  I  miss  more.  Dan  was  my  nearest 
and  dearest  friend,  and  I  mourn  him  every  day 
and  hour.  Even  if  sometimes  a  week  or  more 
passed  without  our  meeting,  he  was  never  ab- 
sent from  my  mind  or  from  my  affections.  I 
was  more  intimately  and  closely  attached  to 
him  than  to  any  other  man,  save  only  my  two 
brothers.    He  was  a  friend  to  whom   I  could 


LETTERS  AND  TELEGRAMS.       123 

Speak  just  as  I  thought  or  felt,  we  knew  one  an- 
other so  w^ell,  and  w^ere  so  thoroughly  assured 
of  each  other's  loyalty  and  friendship, 

I  know  your  grief  is  deep,  though  I  can  well 
understand  no  one  can   measure  the  bereave- 
ment of  your  aching  heart. 
With  sincere  regards,  I  am. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Oscar  S.  Straus. 


Barnard  Club,  Carnegie  Building, 
November  11,  1897. 
My  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

In  accordance  with  the  desire  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Admissions  of  the  Barnard  Club,  I  inclose 
to  you  a  copy  of  the  resolutions  passed  by  the 
committee,  at  its  meeting  held  Monday,  Novem- 
ber 8th. 

"Since  our  last  meeting,  in  June,  we  have  suf- 
fered a  sad  loss  in  the  death  of  Daniel  G. 
Thompson.  To  those  of  us  w^ho,  happily, 
knew  him  well,  his  death  is  a  personal  sorrow^ 
to  be  commemorated  in  our  hearts  alone.  But 
we,  as  a  committee,  who  have  known  and 
appreciated  his  just,  earnest,  and  kindly  advice 


124  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

and  hel^,  desire  to  record  our  testimony  to  the 
service  that  he  has  done  for  the  committee  and 
for  the  Club.  We  have  lost  a  wise  adviser,  a 
scholarly  associate  and  a  true  friend,  and  we 
shall  never  cease  to  regret  the  loss  of  his  counsel 
and  companionship." 

I  am,  very  truly  yours, 

Eva  p.  Brownell, 

Secretary  of  the  Committee  on  Admissions. 


Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y., 
August  13,  1897. 
My  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

I  was  absent  from  home  at  the  time  of  the 
death  of  your  husband.  Could  I  have  reached 
you  I  should  have  endeavored  to  do  so,  to  have 
paid  to  him  my  last  token  of  esteem.  We  were 
classmates,  and  only  the  most  delightful  mem- 
ories remain  of  a  friendship  extending  over 
thirty  years.  Even  in  those  days  his  future 
promise  was  evident.  Everything  that  he  did  he 
did  with  apparent  ease  and  with  high  excellence. 
I  met  him  in  Cleveland,  in  December,  for  the  last 
time,  and,  although  he  seemed  well,  there  was 
a  marked  change  in  his  appearance,  which  led 


LETTERS  AND  TELEGRAMS.       125 

me  to  fear  that  his  life  with  us  was  to  be  short. 
Please  accept  my  sincere  sympathy  in  your 
loss.  I  trust  that  you  will  retain,  in  intimate 
remembrance,  through  all  your  life,  those  who 
w^ere  so  attached  to  your  husband,  of  whom  I 
was  grateful  to  be  one.    Yours  sincerely, 

W.  T.  Hewett. 
Mrs.  Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson. 


Lenox,  Mass.,  July  13. 
My  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson: 

Please  accept  the  assurance  of  my  deep  sor- 
row at  the  sudden  death  of  your  husband. 
Daniel  and  I  had  been  intimate  friends — in  addi- 
tion to  being  classmates — at  Amherst.  I  have 
always  felt  great  regret  that,  since  those  days, 
our  lives  have  been  separated.  I  have  followed, 
w^ith  great  interest  and  pride,  his  brilliant 
career.  I  was  wholly  unprepared  for  his  sud- 
den taking  away.  I  trust  that  you  w^ere,  in 
some  measure,  prepared  for  it.  Little  as  I  have 
seen  of  Daniel  I  have  always  had  the  feeling 
that  our  lives  were  to  come  together  again — 


126  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

and  I  have  always  known  that  he  had  a  decided 
regard  and  affection  for  me  (which  I  more  than 
reciprocated)  and  which  I  felt  would  help  us  to 
take  up  the  old  friendship  again,  without  delay, 
when  we  did  meet.  Now^,  this  companionship 
must  be  postponed — but  only  postponed. 
Most  sincerely  yours, 

Richard  Goodman,  Jr. 


PoTTSViLLE,  Pa.,  July  2,  1897. 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

All  the  members  of  the  class  of  '69  at  Amherst 
have  been  greatly  saddened  by  the  announce- 
ment of  the  death  of  your  dear  husband.  I  do 
not  wish  to  intrude  upon  your  sorrow,  but  per- 
mit me  to  express  my  w^armest  sympathy.  He 
was  the  youngest  member  of  our  class,  but  from 
the  first  he  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  ablest, 
and  no  one  has  been  surprised  at  the  distinction 
which  he  gained  in  his  profession,  in  general 
literature  and  especially  by  his  philosophical 
writings.  We  were  members  of  the  same  Fra- 
ternity^,  and  while  we  have  not  met  often  in 


LETTERS  AND  TELEGRAMS.       127 

recent  years,  the  memories  of  our  friendship 
have  been  among  the  most  cherished  of  my 
college  life. 

My  father  was  at  one  time  principal  of  the 
academy  at  Montpelier,Vt.,  and  a  friend  of  Judge 
Thompson,  your  husband's  father.  This  led  to 
our  early  acquaintance  and  friendship  when  we 
met  at  Amherst. 

But  I  must  not  trespass  further  upon  your 
time.  With  renewed  assurance  of  loving  sym- 
pathy, I  am,  sincerely  yours, 

John  H.  Eastman. 


120  Broadway,  July  10,  1897. 
Dear  Mrs.  Thompson  : 

It  is  with  the  greatest  sorrow  that  I  have 
learned  from  Mr.  Hanford  of  the  sudden  death 
of  your  husband,  my  old  associate  and  genial 
friend.  Let  me  express  my  sincere  condolence  to 
you  in  your  grief,  and  assure  you  that  you  have 
the  sympathy  of  an  exceptionally  large  number 
of  friends.  For  the  happy  and  cheerful  tempera- 
ment of  Mr.  Thompson  endeared  him  to  all,  who 


128  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

came  to  kno^iv  him.    His  death  will  cause  a  sense 

of  very  great  personal  loss,  and  it  is  an  added 

sorrow  that  it  is  only  possible  for  one  to  express 

at  such  a  time,  deep  sympathy  with  you  in  your 

bereavement. 

Sincerely  yours, 

Charles  E.  Lydecker. 


ROSEBANK,  HOBART,  TASMANIA, 

October  18,  1897. 
My  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson: 

We  are  in  receipt  of  your  letter  to  us  of  the 
21st  of  August,  and  I  cannot  put  into  words 
the  shock  which  it  has  given  us.  Only  four 
weeks  ago  1  posted  my  last  letter  to  your  dear 
husband,  which,  I  presume,  will  be  duly  sent  to 
you.  I  cannot  think  of  New  York  without  him. 
All  my  most  precious  memories  of  it  are  asso- 
ciated with  him,  as  no  part  of  the  United  States 
will  seem  the  same  to  me  again.  It  is  a  little 
more  than  seven  years  since  I  first  met  him,  and 
during  the  whole  of  that  time  he  and  his  books 
have  been  a  part  of  my  life  to  me.    His  books 


LETTERS  AND  TELEGRAMS.       129 

will  be  doubly  dear  to  me  in  the  fiiture,  and  I 
hope  that  his  friends  will  secure  the  publication 
of  whatever  manuscripts  he  has  left  behind  him. 
My  wife  and  I  fondly  hoped  that  he  and  you 
would  visit  Australia,  and  that  we  should  have 
the  pleasure  of  making  you  our  guests  in  Tas- 
mania. If  you  have  a  photograph  of  him  which 
you  can  spare  for  us,  we  shall  preserve  it  with 
affectionate  care.  My  wife  is  writing  to  you, 
and  leaving  her  to  say  whatever  I  have  omitted, 
I  am,  with  intense    sympathy,  very  sincerely 

yours, 

A.  Inglis  Clark. 


Hatfield,  Mass.,  July  14,  1897. 

Dear  Mrs.  Thompson: 

The  Standard  Union  has  just  come  to  me,  tell- 
ing me  of  the  death  of  my  dear  friend  and  class- 
mate. I  write  at  once  to  assure  you  that  I  have 
never  once  lost  that  admiration  and  affection 
for  Thompson  that  he  won  from  me  when  we 
were  so  intimate  at  Amherst.  I  have  always 
been  deeply  sensible,  too,  of  his  constant  kindness 


130  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

and  loyalty  to  me.  Proud  as  I  am  of  what  he 
achieved  intellectually,  I  am  sure  he  stood  high- 
est of  all  in  the  qualities  of  his  heart.  With 
deepest  sympathy  for  you  in  your  bereavement, 

I  am, 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

Robert  M.  Woods. 


Brandon,  Vt.,  7/12,  1897. 

Mrs.  Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson  : 

Accept  my  profound  sympathy  in  your  over- 
whelming bereavement.  I  knew  and  loved  your 
lamented  husband  from  his  boyhood,  when  we 
w^ere  both  officially  connected  with  the  Vermont 
Legislature.  He  was  a  gifted  author,  a  gen- 
erous, exalted  soul,  and  I  grieve  with  you 
keenly  at  his  untimely  loss,  which  is  a  heavy  be- 
reavement, not    onh'    to    yourself  but   to    all 

mankind. 

John  H.  Flagg. 


OPINIONS    AND    DISCUSSIONS. 


A  SYSTEM  OF  PSYCHOLOGY* 

(1884.) 

22  Hyde  Park  Gate, 
London,  S.  W.,  October  16,  1897. 
My  Dear  Sir  : 

I  acknowledge  at  once  the  receipt  of  your 
Psychology,  for  I  might  have  to  wait  some  time 
if  I  waited  till  I  had  read  it.  This,  I  know,  does 
not  look  very  polite,  but  my  meaning  is  very 
innocent.  I  can  see  at  a  glance  that  your  book 
requires  more  than  a  cursory  reading,  and  with 
an  appetite.  I  can,  therefore,  only  say  at  pres- 
ent that  I  am  glad  to  see  a  work  proceeding 
upon  those  lines — I  mean  the  Mill-Spencer-Bain 
— without  the  Hegelian  taint  which  has  been  in- 
flicting us  here  of  late. 

I  regret  that  I  was  not  able  to  see  more  of 
you  during  your  visit  to  Europe.    If  you  should 


*  Note. — Much  latitude  has  been  permitted  in  the  follow- 
ing extracts  on  account  of  the  intrinsic  interest  of  the  discus- 
sions and  to  show  the  cordial  and  sincere  relations  between 
Mr.  Thompson  and  his  friends,  whether  they  agreed  or  dis- 
agreed. H.  G.  T. 


/ 


134  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

repeat  it,  I  should  be  very  glad  to  see  you  again, 
and  I  hope  that  you  would,  in  that  case,  give 
me  timely  notice. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Leslie  Stephen. 


South  Congregational  Church, 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  October  31,  1884. 

My  Dear  Friend  : 

I  was  out  of  town  when  your  books  arrived, 
and  after  my  return  I  was  obliged  to  attend 
upon  sick  parishioners,  etc.  So  that  this  is  the 
first  moment  in  which  I  could  express  my  thanks 
to  you  for  your  courtesy  and  kindness  in  send- 
ing me  the  volumes  of  Philosopy  of  the  Mind. 

The  most  hasty  glance  within  the  covers  of 
these  volumes  shows  that  you  have  understood 
and  emphasized  the  word  with  which  your  title 
opens,  the  word  "system" — "A  System  of  Ps)'- 
chology."  I  have  not  as  yet,  of  course,  had  time 
to  read  anything,  but  I  am  proud  of  a  friend 
who  has  the  intellectual  hardihood  to  dare  and 
the  intellectual  persistency  to  execute  a  work  so 


A  SYSTEM  OF  PSYCHOLOGY.  135 

comprehensive  and  formidable.  The  bits  that  I 
have  glanced  at  I  admire — the  dedication,  etc. 
To  have  accomplished  a  work  like  this,  my  dear 
Mr.  Thompson,  certainly  imparts  to  any  man's 
whole  life  a  certain  inalienable  dignity.  I  have 
no  question  that  the  work,  when  I  come  to  read 
it,  will  fulfill  to  me  every  promise  of  its  external 
appearance,  and  every  promise,  also,  which  I 
have  made  to  me,  through  my  pleasant  ac- 
quaintance with  its  author. 

Yours  sincerely, 

Albert  J.  Lyman. 


Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  November  10,  1884. 

My  Dear  Sir  : 

Your  two  volumes  came  duly  to  hand,  and 
astonish  me  by  their  scope,  material,  and  gen- 
eral ability.  I  cannot,  of  course,  speak  critic- 
ally of  your  system  or  its  details,  for  I  have  not, 
in  this  whirlwind  of  politics,  had  the  even- 
mindedness  to  perform  such  work.  But  I  have 
tasted  of  almost  every  part,  with  the  effect  of 
only  exciting  my  appetite  for  more,  and  with 


136  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

the  general  impression  that  I  shall  approve 
mostly,  use  the  scalpel  in  spots,  but  the  club 
nowhere.    I  am,  truly  yours, 

Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

I  am  of  Darvvin  and  Spencer's  School  of 
Thought — but  less  a  disciple  of  Mill  and  Bain — 
perhaps  because  less  acquainted  with  their 
writings. 

626  Carlton  Avenue, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  October  28,  1884. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

I  am  greatly  obliged  to  you  for  your  hand- 
some book,  and  sincerely  grateful.  I  should  like 
nothing  better  than  to  put  everything  else  aside 
and  settle  down  to  your  exposition  for  a  week 
or  two,  but  that  is  quite  impossible.  Just  now 
I  am  very  busy,  but  before  long  I  trust  that  I 
shall  be  able  to  get  at  you.  I  am  sure  of  plenty 
of  instruction  when  I  do.  I  wish  I  could  see  you 
now  and  then  far  from  the  madding  crowd. 
May  I  not  hope  to  ? 

Yours  truly, 

John  W.  Chadwick. 


a  system  of  psychology.  137 

Amherst  College, 
Amherst,  Mass.,  November  12,  1884. 

My  Dear  Friend  : 

I  have  not  yet  read  the  whole  of  your 
Psychology,  which  I  have  gratefully  received 
from  you,  but  I  must  tell  you  how  interested  I 
have  been  in  the  parts  to  which  I  have  directed 
my  attention.  I  am  not  surprised  at  your 
aptitude  for  thought,  or  for  clear  expression  of 
your  thoughts,  while  the  candor  and  the  love 
of  truth,  shining  through  all  I  have  yet  read, 
also  reveal  what  I  have  always  known  you  to 
possess.  What  are  systems  of  thinking,  what  are 
doctrines  of  any  sort,  philosophical  or  religious, 
that  we  should  prize  them  when  the  truth 
alone  is  priceless?  You  w^ill  probably  not  be 
surprised  that  the  points  of  difference  between 
us  are  not  obliterated  by  my  reading  of  your 
book,  though  I  have  often  said  to  myself  that 
the  difference  is  more  apparent  than  real,  and 
that  I  could  show  you  the  deepest  harmony  of 
much  that  you  hold  most  prominently  with 
what  has  been  all  along  held  to  be  fundamental 
in  my  teaching.    Will  you  w^onder  if  I  even  think 


138  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

I  could  convince  you  that  among  your  own 
cognitions,  clearly  recognized  as  such  all  along 
in  your  book,  there  are  those  whose  contents 
not  only,  objects  known,  differ  from  all  those 
w^hich  sensation  or  reflection  have  given,  but 
which  are  attained,  subject  knowing,  in  a  way 
equally  peculiar  ?  The  question  why  you  write 
and  why  you  expect  to  convince  others  by  your 
writing,  would  doubtless  be  answered  by  you 
and  me  in  the  same  way,  but  by  neither  of  us 
without  involving  in  both  the  peculiar  char- 
acteristics which  Dr.  Hickok  ascribes  to  the 
reason.  Would  two  thinkers  ever  disagree  if 
they  perfectly  understood  one  another? 

I  am  sorry  that  you  are  unacquainted  with 
Kant,  whose  Kritik — certainly  if  judged  by  the 
lines  of  thought  it  has  stimulated,  the  most 
important  contribution  to  Psychology  since 
Locke's  "Essay" — would,  I  cannot  but  think, 
help  you. 

I  shall  be  very  glad  to  have  our  classes  here, 

\    whom  Prof.  Garman  now  is  most  ably  teaching, 

get  your  criticism  of  Hickok.     If  your  book  is 

in  any  sense  the  result  of  his  thinking,  it  is  an 

encouragement  to  keep  planting  the  same  seed. 


A  SYSTEM  OF  PSYCHOLOGY.  139 

Ah,  if  we  could  only  often  have  similar  soil ! 
*  *  *  Rejoicing  in  your  work  and  not  fearing 
that  truth  will  suffer  from  any  inquiry,  I  am 
ever  and  most  truly  yours, 

Julius  H,  Seel  ye. 

Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson,  Esq. 


New  York,  November  7,  1884. 

*  *  *  I  have  made  a  hasty  survey  of  your 
book,  although  prevented  from  the  full  reading  of 
it  by  the  pressure  of  business,  and  can  readily  see 
that  you  have  bestowed  a  great  deal  of  research 
upon  your  subject  and  not  only  studied  it  very 
deeply,  but  elaborated  your  views  with  great 
ability.  It  must  have  absorbed  a  great  deal  of 
your  time ;  and  it  w^ill,  I  trust,  bring  you  an 
ample  reward,  not  merely  in  your  personal 
satisfaction  in  contributing  to  the  elucidation 
of  the  great  problems  involved,  but  also  in  an 
enviable  reputation  among  scientific  men. 

I  confess  that  my  ow^n  inclinations  draw  me 
into  more  practical  questions,  and,  to  a  large  ex- 
tent, disqualify  me  from  judging  critically  of 


140  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

works  like  this.     But  I  am  none  the  less  able  to 
appreciate  their  real  value  in  the  development 
and  progress  of  mankind.     With  many  thanks 
for  so  kindly  remembering  me,  I  remain, 
Yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  G.  Shearman. 


626  Carlton  Avenue, 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  December  30,  1884. 

Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

Inclosed  find  a  brief  notice    of  your  book 

which    I    wrote    at    Mr.  Foord's  request.     It 

seemed  quite  long  in  the  MS.,  but  it  seems  very 

short  in  print.     I  thought  I  could  serve  the 

book  best  by  calling  attention  to  it  in  a  light 

and  pleasant  way.    In  the  rush  of  the  holidays, 

I  could  hardly  do  more,  or  expect  to  be  read  if 

I  did.  I  have  read  a  good  deal  in  the  book  with 

sincere  pleasure.    You  will  believe  that  I  w^rote 

"Sidgwick"  and  not  "Sedgwick,"  but  I  never 

could  get  a  printer  yet  to  follow  me  in  that 

particular. 

Yours  truly, 

John  W.  Chadwick. 


a  system  of  psychology.  141 

117  East  Twenty-first  Street, 
Gramercy  Park,  N.  Y., 

October  26,  1884. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Thompson  ; 

A  thousand  thanks  for  your  kindness  in  pre- 
senting me  with  your  "System  of  Psychology." 
I  want  to  read  it  far  more  than  you  want  me 
to.  It  rejoices  me  to  know  that  men  of  your  en- 
viable brain  power  and  brain  endurance  are  so 
earnestly  at  work  in  the  good  cause. 

COURTLANDT  PaLMER. 


Northampton,  Mass.,  November  7,  1884. 

*  *  *  I  have  read  forty  pages,  and,  to  tell 
the  truth,  am  a  little  surprised  that  I  can  truth- 
fully say  that  I  shall  read  the  whole  with  not 
only  attention  but  with  great  interest.  I  had 
expected  the  w^ork  would  be  dignified  and  com- 
plete, but  I  had  not  really  anticipated  that  its 
style  and  habit — its  w^alk  and  conversation,  as 
it  were, — would  be  so  attractive.  Value,  you 
know,  is  made  in  equal  parts  of  style  and  stuff. 
I  knew  you  had  the  message  to  speak,  but  I  had 


142  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

not  anticipated  such  grace  of  utterance.  But 
I  will  not  say  much  of  the  book  till  I  have  fully- 
read  it.  My  first  impression  is  favorable,  and  I 
predict  a  future  for  it.        Yours, 

F.  H.  Stoddard. 


1  E.  Twenty-eighth  Street, 
October  25,  1884. 

I  do  not  know  how  to  thank  you  sufficiently^ 
for  your  kind  courtesy  in  sending  me  a  copy  of 
your  elaborate  work,   "A  System  of  Psychol- 

ogy." 

You  are,  indeed,  quite  right  in  supposing  that 
such  a  w^ork  would  be  received  by  me  in  a  sym- 
pathetic spirit,  and  I  feel  flattered  and  honored 
by  the  thought  that  you  would  find  in  me  an 
appreciative  reader.  As  yet  I  have,  of  course, 
only  glanced  at  the  book,  but  the  table  of  con- 
tents is  a  rare  intellectual  menu,  and  the  intro- 
duction suggests  the  able  and  delightful  treat- 
ment of  a  most  attractive  subject.  You  certainly 
deserve  infinite  credit  for  the  labor  and  effort 


A  SYSTEM  OF  PSYCHOLOGY.  143 

involved  in  such  an  unusually  detailed  produc- 
tion. How  you  ever  found  time,  with  your  busy 
professional  life,  to  accomplish  such  a  feat, 
passes  my  comprehension.  I  shall,  from  time  to 
time,  partake  of  the  banquet  you  have  so  gen- 
erously placed  before  me,  and  I  hope  before  very 
long  to  have  the  pleasure  of  speaking  to  you  of 
my  enjoyment  and  gratefully  confessing  my  in- 
struction.  I  am,  dear  sir. 

Faithfully  yours, 

George  C.  Barrett. 
Daniel  G,  Thompson,  Esq. 


Orange,  N.  J.,  December  24, 1884. 
My  Dear  Sir  : 

I  am  reading  your  book  with  much  interest. 
It  contains  much  valuable  matter,  some  of  it 
new  to  me ;  but  I  cannot  accept  your  point  of 
view,  which  seems  to  me  to  have  been  hastily 
assumed  without  due  analysis. 

I  should  contest  in  the  most  direct  w^ay  your 
very  first  position,  that  ''the  words  know  and 
knowledge   express    an   experience  of  sentient 


144  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

beings."  I  could  hardly  frame  a  statement  more 
faulty  in  logic  and  fact,  and  yet  this  assumption 
runs  through  and  colors  the  whole  work. 
Knowledge,  in  the  first  place,  is  not  an  experience 
of  sentient  beings  as  such,  at  all.  The  experience 
of  these  beings  as  such,  is  sentience,  sensation. 
It  is  only  intelligent  beings  that  can  have  knowl- 
edge and  only  as  intelligent.  If  sentient  beings 
as  such  can  know,  then  sensation  is  knowledge, 
a  position  which  is  easily  overthrown.  In  the 
second  place,  sentient  beings  as  such,  cannot  be 
said  to  have  experience  properly  so  called  at  all. 
Experience  presupposes  the  presentation  of  time, 
space,  subject  and  object,  and  these  (except,  it 
may  be,  space)  are  not  matters  of  sensation. 
Sensation  feels  no  relations, and  therefore  makes 
no  distinctions,  but  without  distinctions  there 
is  no  knowledge.  This  is  a  cardinal  point  and 
the  failure  to  seize  it  completely  vitiates  the 
whole  work  of  the  English  school.  That  school 
is  deficient  in  analysis,  mingles  up  things  that 
are  wide  as  the  poles  asunder.  No  wonder  that 
it  arrives  at  agnosticism  and  other  strange 
results.  The  sole  cause  of  agnosticism  is  bad 
thinking  and  the  confusion  of  sensation  with 


A  SYSTEM  OF  PSYCHOLOGY.  145 

cognition.    Don't  be  exasperated  by  my  objur- 
gations.    I  am  always   "  1'  avvocato  del  dia- 
Yola;"  but  I  am  always  a  reasonable  advocate. 
Cordially  yours, 

Thomas  Davidson. 


The  Cornell  University, 
Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  November  16,  1884. 

My  Dear  Thompson  : 

I  watch  w^ith  delight  your  work  and  wonder 
at  your  accomplishment,  when  I  see  so  solid 
and  extensive  a  product  of  your  thought. 
Choate  often  said,  "After  all,  the  only  immor- 
tality is  a  book."  I  have  wished  that  I  w^ere 
nearer  to  you  in  all  your  stiidies  in  the  past  few 
years.  My  old  regard  for  you  follows  you  still 
and  I  hail  any  glimpse  of  you  in  person  or  in 
type.  That  amid  your  profession  you  have  been 
able  to  carrj'  on  your  literary  studies  is  a  mar- 
vel to  me.  Some  time  I  hope  we  may  clasp 
hands  again  and  go  over  the  past. 

W.  T.  Hewett. 
D.  G.  Thompson. 

*9 


146  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

Chicago,  January  5, 1885. 
Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

The  two  stately  volumes  have  arrived  and  I 
am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  them.  I  will 
not  of  course  pretend  that  I  have  already  read 
them,  but  I  have  looked  into  them  here  and  there 
enough  to  see  the  tremendous  expanse  of  facts 
and  thought  they  cover  and  to  see,  too,  that  at 
least  in  many  parts  I  could  become  greatly  in- 
terested. 

It  is  truly  a  magnum  opus,  and  I  congratu- 
late you  on  its  completion. 

A.  C.  McClurg. 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  EVIL. 

(1886.) 

Amherst  College, 
Amherst,  Mass.,  November  11, 1887. 
My  Dear  Thompson  : 

I  have  read  your  "  Problem  of  Evil "  carefully 
from  beginning  to  end.  I  need  not  say  that  it 
has  greatly  interested  me,  for  this  could  not  be 
otherwise,  considering  its  theme  and  its  author- 
ship. You  will  not  be  surprised  that  I  do  not 
like  its  main  drift,  and  will  not  in  the  least  sup- 
pose that  my  dislike  is  occasioned  by  any  refer- 
ence in  it  to  myself.  The  unnamed  references  to 
myself,  w^herein  I  get  glimpses  of  things  which 
used  to  come  out  in  our  discussions  together,  in 
the  recitation  room  and  out  of  it,  give  me,  as 
you  w^ell  know,  only  pleasure.  And  yet,  after 
all  our  discussions,  I  have  failed  to  make  you 
apprehend  my  real  position,  and  that  of  those 
who  agree  generally  with  me.  I  wonder 
whether  there  would  be  any  dispute  in  the 
w^orld  if  men  truly  understood  each  other  ?  It 
seems  singular  that  Aristotle  could  not  under- 


148  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

stand  Plato,  but  I  do  not  think  he  did ;  and  I 
wonder  why  I  have  not  made  myself  clear  to 
you,  but  I  evidently  have  not.  Hence  I  deeply 
feel  that  I  may  wholly  misapprehend  you  in  my 
objections  to  the  teachings  of  your  book, 
though  I  am  sure  I  am  right  in  my  confidence  in 
the  purity  and  the  uprightness  of  your  desires 
and  purposes. 

Before  speaking  of  w^hat  seems  to  me  the 
radical  error  of  the  book,  may  I  state  a  few 
points  as  I  jotted  them  down  while  I  was  read- 
ing it. 

p.  12.  "  Moral  evil  arises  from  the  relations  of  sentient 
beings  to  each  other." 

But  w^hat  if  there  were  only  a  solitary  man 
upon  the  globe,  and  he  should  give  himself  up 
to  unbridled  lust,  i.e.,  should  allow  himself  to 
be  dominated  wholly  by  his  bodily  appetites,  as 
they  might  crave  for  excessive  gratification, 
would  there  not  be  in  this,  aside  from  its  phy- 
sical consequences,  a  real  moral  evil  ? 

p.  15.     "  Evil,  that  which  causes  pain." 

But  suppose  a  man  has  undertaken  to  rob 
me,  but  has  been  foiled  ?  No  pain  has  come  to 
me,  for  I  may  not  know  it,  and  none  to  the 


THE  PROBLEM    OF  EVIL.  149 

robber,  except  perhaps  the  pain  of  his  disap- 
pointment ;  but  is  there  no  evil  in  his  intention  ? 

p.  i6.  "  Moral  evil  is  pain  caused  by  human  volition  to 
cause  pain." 

But,  again,  the  moral  evil  of  the  isolated 
domination  of  sensual  lust,  what  of  it?  Surely 
this  is  evil,  but  where  is  there  any  volition  to 
cause  pain  thereby? 

p.  17.     "  Not  all  pain,"  etc. 

But  what,  then,  do  you  mean  by  "unright- 
eous dispositions  and  choices  ?  "  Have  you  not 
slipped  into  your  definition,  by  another  word, 
the  very  idea  which  is  to  be  defined  ? 

p.  85.     "  Aim  at  the  maximum  of  liberty." 

But  what  is  liberty,  and  what  its  exact  dis- 
tinction from  license  ?  Is  it  not  in  the  difference 
betw^een  obedience  to  law^  and  lawlessness  ? 

p.  91 .  "A  necessity  of  all  social  order  is  the  preservation 
of  security  to  each  individual." 

But  how  gain  this  preservation  without 
law?  This  is  implied  even  in  the  next  para- 
graph. 

p.  94.  As  bearing  upon  this  same  point,  note 
on  this  page  what  is  said  about  governmental 
education. 


150  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

p.  101.  You  correctly  state  the  importance 
of  the  Christian  doctrine  of  sin. 

p.  109.     "  It  is  conceded  by  all,"  etc. 

True ;  but  whence  these  ideals  ? 

p.  131.  Does  not  Herbert  Spencer's  classifi- 
cation of  duties  clash  with  your  view^  of  moral 
evil,  on  page  12  ? 

p.  137.  An  entire  misconception  of  the 
grounds  on  which  law^s  against  blasphemy  are 
to  be  enforced. 

p.  138.  In  all  that  you  are  saying  here,  you 
seem  to  ignore  the  point  you  correctly  make  on 
p.  132,  of  the  relation  of  doctrine  to  conduct. 

p.  140.  But  where  actually  are  the  highest 
developments  of  what  you  call  altruistic  char- 
acter ?  Are  they  not  through  Christian  motives  ? 
p.  140,  second  paragraph.  But  you  ignore 
the  actual  origin  of  civil  liberty,  vide  Hegel's 
"Philosophic,"  der  Geschichts,  Introduction. 

p.  144.  Would  it  not  have  been  better  to  ask 
whether  such  a  doctrine  as  you  represent  the 
Trinity  to  be  could  have  been  held  so  long  and 
so  earnestly  by  the  Church,  and  might  not  this 
have  suggested  the  inquiry,  whether  you  may 
have  misapprehended  the  doctrine  ? 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  EVIL.  151 

p.  193.  "  In  order  that  a  proposition  be  true  it  must  con- 
form to  experience." 

But  how  about  mathematical  propositions, 
and  how  about  belief  in  testimony  ? 

p.  204.    What  is  a  struldbrug? 

p.  209.  You  repeatedly  urge,  as  I  am  happy 
to  see,  that  the  state  is  the  organic  unity  of 
mankind  and  that  "the  central  principle  of  all 
organic  life  is,"  etc.  Must  you  not,  therefore, 
recognize  that  which  is  before  the  parts  an  ideal 
factor  determining  how  the  parts  shall  stand 
thus  related  ?  But  is  there  not  then  a  reality 
of  existence  to  society  before  the  individual? 
vide  Aristotle's  "Politics,"  I. 

p.  245.     "  Moral  evil  is  the  choices  of  individuals." 

True,  but  at  war  with  your  general  discus- 
sion. 

"Egoism  in  the  individual  character  is  the  root  of  all 
moral  evil." 

Undoubtedly,  but,  then,  what  becomes  of  your 
view  of  the  doctrine  of  sin  ? 

If  you  are  not  saying,  in  disgust,  at  this  time, 
that  I  have  entirely  misapprehended  you,  as 
I  am  sure  you  fail  to  see  what  I  have  advo- 
cated, and  are  willing  that  I  should  add  a  word 


152  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

further,  let  me  say  that  the  great  trouble  I  have 
with  your  book  is  that  you  constantly  seem 
to  overlook  the  real  elements  of  personality. 
These  elements  are,  I  take  it,  tv^ro,  and  only 
tw^o,  viz.,  self-consciousness  and  self-direction. 
Both  these  are  necessary  to  personality,  and 
neither  of  them  could  come  from  the  imper- 
sonal. The  gap  betv^een  the  personal  and  the 
non-personal  still  remains  a  chasm  which  no 
evolutionary  hypothesis  has  been  able  to  bridge. 
Note  the  attempts  at  this  and  the  undistrib- 
uted middle  in  the  syllogism,  involved  in  them 
all,  e.g.,  Mr.  Spencer's.  Neither  the  personal  can 
come  from  the  not-personal,  nor  consciousness 
from  the  unconscious,  for  the  dictum,  "ca-  nibilo 
nihil  ^t,"  forbids.  Our  personality  must  have 
had  a  personal  source.  The  finite  self-conscious- 
ness must  rest  ultimately  upon  the  absolute 
self-consciousness.  I  can  conceive  of  no  bet- 
ter expression  for  the  sound,  speculative  view 
than  the  Scripture  statement  that  "God  has 
made  man  in  His  own  image."  But,  if  this  be 
so,  then  the  finite  personality  can  have  a  true 
self-direction,  and  is,  therefore,  free,  and,  there- 
fore, the  question  of  freedom  does  still  set  itself 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  EVIL.  153 

before  our  face  and  look  us  in  the  eye.  But  in 
its  freedom  it  may  take  what  you  call  an  ego- 
istic, or,  as  I  should  prefer  to  say,  a  selfish 
direction,  or,  as  you  term  it,  an  altruistic, 
which  I  should  prefer  to  call  an  unselfish  one. 
But  selfishness  is  not  what  you  seem  to  con- 
ceive it  to  be  all  along  in  your  discussion,  e.  g., 

p.m. 

It  is  not  simply  the  self-consciousness  or  the 
self-direction,  or  anything  by  which  we  simply 
predicate  individuality  of  a  being,  as  the  sun  it- 
self, the  mountains  themselves,  etc.  But  it  is 
the  seeking  of  a  true  good,  not  simply  for,  but 
in  the  self.  May  I  help  my  meaning  here  by  a 
phrase  which  the  Germans  so  often  use  and  say 
that  selfishness  is  not  the  "A'r  sich  sejrn^'  but 
the  "in  sich  seyn ? " 

Now,  my  dear  Thompson,  you  seem  to  me 
constantly  to  ignore  this  great  point.  Your 
whole  discussion  nowhere  distinguishes  between 
these  two.  And  yet  this  distinction  is  not  only 
important,  it  is  all  important  to  a  discussion  of 
the  Problem  of  Evil.  With  this  distinction 
clearly  in  mind,  the  question  of  sin  and  of 
God's  sovereignty  have  a  solemn  meaning  more 


154  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

consonant  with  the  deep  seated  sentiments  of 
mankind  than  with  the  strongly  uttered  senti- 
ments of  your  book. 

By  and  by  we  shall  not  differ,  and,  till  then, 
and  ever,  I  am,  very  truly  yours, 

Julius  H.  Seelye. 

Daniel  G.  Thompson,  Esq. 


Orange,  June  8. 
Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

I  have  read  your  book  with  much  pleasure. 
*  *  *  I  cannot  accept  your  doctrine  of  deter- 
minism at  all.  You  are  splendidly  right  on 
social  questions. 

Cordially  yours, 

Thomas  Davidson. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  SENTIMENTS  OF  THE 

HUMAN    MIND. 

(1888.) 

10  West  Tenth  Street, 

April  4,  1888. 
Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

*  *  *  While  I  have  not  been  able  to  give  it 
a  careful  reading,  I  have  looked  into  it  suffici- 
ently to  enable  me  to  see  what  a  valuable  contri- 
bution you  have  made  to  the  religious  thought 
of  the  day.  Your  book  cannot  fail  to  impress 
the  reader  with  its  broad  and  liberal  senti- 
ments, in  w^hich  I  am  w^ell  convinced  lies  so 
much  of  the  hopes  of  the  future  for  independence 
of  thought  and  action  among  mankind. 
Most  faithfully  yours, 

Henry  S.  Oakley. 


April  2,  1888. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

Your  "Religious  Sentiments  of  the  Human 
Mind  "  has  interested  me  exceedingly — more,  if 
anything,  than  did  ''The  Problem  of  E\41." 
Your  treatment  of  the  subject  is  thoughtful, 


156  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

both  conservative  and  liberal  in  the  truest  sense 
of  those  much  abused  words,  and  I  find  myself 
in  agreement  with  you  at  almost  every  point. 

I  have  criticised  your  definitions  a  little,  but 
could  not  conscientiously  "pitch  in  "  to  the  book 
very  severely.  Indeed,  your  treatment  is  so 
fair,  moderate  and  candid,  that  I  do  not  see 
how  those  even  who  disagree  w^ith  yon  can 
possibly  take  offence  at  your  positions. 
Sincerely  yours, 

Lewis  G.  Janes. 


Flatbush,  L.  I. 
My  Dear  Thompson  : 

I  have  just  received  your  book,  "The  Relig- 
ious Sentiments,"  etc.,  for  which  accept  my 
many  thanks.  I  have  read  it,  for  which  I  shall 
probably  receive  yours.  I  read  it  in  one  session. 
That  will  excite  your  surprise. 

I  believe  I  am  nearly  in  sympathy  w^ith  your 
definition  of  religion.  The  relations  spoken  of  do 
not  include  any  of  the  moral  sentiments,  which, 
I  believe,  are  exclusively  the  relations  of  man 
to  man — and  nothing  else — all  of  which,  I  believe, 
however,  are  included  in  your  definitions. 


RELIGIOUS  SENTIMENT.  157 

I  took  great  pleasure  in  Chapter  III.,  but 
must  insist  that  religion  is  egoistic  and  entirely 
selfish ;  every  altruistic  emotion  belongs  to  the 
social  and  moral ;  therefore,  religious  sentiments 
are  social  factors  in  just  so  far  as  they  are  non- 
religious. 

The  teachings  of  religion  are  to  do  good  for 
God's  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  personal 
soul;  its  great  reward  is  in  another  life,  to 
which  morality  makes  no  pretensions,  nor  does 
it  in  any  sense  give  recognition  to  any  concep- 
tion higher  than  humanity,  or  to  any  pow^er 
superior  to  society. 

Morality  makes  the  Man;  Religion,  the 
Saint. 

What  do  you  mean  in  saying  "Religion  must 
furnish  the  foundation  principle  of  Ethics  ?  " 

The  great  mass  of  teachers,  if  I  have  learned 
the  lesson  aright,  make  morality  basic  to  relig- 
ion. Is  the  moral  sense  of  the  dog  based  upon 
religious  sentiment  ? 

Lucretius  says  "Fear  was  the  mother  of  Relig- 
ion." 

Hume  says  "Religion  w^as  evolved  out  of  ig- 
norance." 


158  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

I  know  of  none  more  noted  for  religion  and 
bad  morals  than  David,  Lot  and  Solomon. 

I  might  probably  name  a  few  modem  exam- 
ples, all  of  whom  have  gone  to  swell  the  aristoc- 
racy of  heaven. 

The  Buddhistic  Nirvana,  of  which  you  speak  (on 
page  98),  I  have  somewhere  seen  summarized 
as  "Nothing  but  Nothingness; "  and  an  author 
whom  you  delight  to  quote  speaks  of  existence 
in  the  same  Nihilistic  mood : 

"  A  moment's  halt,  a  momentary  taste 
Of  Being,  from  the  Will  and  the  Waste, 
And  Lo !  the  phantom  caravan  has  reacht 
The  Nothing  it  set  out  from.     Oh,  make  haste." 

Were  your  book  on  review  before  me,  I  should 
say  that  in  Chapter  XXXIII.  you  have  too 
much  heaven  and  too  little  hell.  The  equipoise 
is  lost.    Let's  restore  it  by  expunging  both. 

I  really  have  no  choice  betw^een  the  man 
who  avoids  evil  to  gain  heaven,  and  he  who  does 
good  to  escape  hell;  each  is  equally  culpable. 
As  Bums  facetiously  says : 

"  It  'a  as  it  pleases  best  hissel'. 
Sends  ane  to  heaven  and  ten  to  hell ; 
'A  for  thy  glory." 


RELIGIOUS  SENTIMENT.  159 

I  cannot  just  here  forego  the  pleasure  of  a 
Httle  quotation  from  the  highly  religious  brother, 
Dr.  Watts,  in  one  of  those  sublime  little  poems 
on  a  kindred  subject : 

"  Almighty  vengeance,  bow  it  bums, 
How  bright  His  fury  glows; 
Vast  magazines  of  plagues  and  Stonns 
Lie  treasured  for  his  foes." 

I  agree,  totally,  with  the  unexpressed  senti- 
ment of  the  chapter:  ''That  to  believe  such 
things,  is  coercing  the  intellect  to  eat  dirt." 

My  mood,  to-night,  is  antagonistic,  but  with 
your  last  chapter,  **  Religious  Education,"  my 
best  feelings  are  entirely  in  accord.  It  is  the  most 
delightful  chapter  of  this  rather  fascinating 
book.  The  topic  is  an  interesting  one,  and  it  is 
full  of  new  methods  and  thought.  Thompson, 
I  am  glad  you  have  written  this  book.  True,  I 
have  read  it  but  loosely;  shall  read  it  again, 
and  if  I  reverse  the  gossipy  judgments  of  this 
unwise  note,  will  so  inform  you. 

Yours  very  trtdy, 

Dan  M.  Tredwell. 
March  29,  1888. 


160        daniel  greenleaf  thompson. 

Amherst  College, 

Amherst,  Mass.,  March  30,  1888. 

My  Dear  Friend: 

I  have  been  lately  reading  James  Martineau's 
"Study  of  Religion,"  a  truly  notable  book  of 
affluent  scholarship,  both  acute  and  profound  in 
thought,  and  of  a  royal  splendor  in  style,  and 
was  just  purposing  a  letter  to  ask  you  to  read 
it  when  your  own  book  on  the  same  theme  was 
brought  me.  Let  me  thank  you  for  sending  it  to 
me,  while  I  again  express  the  deep  interest,  what- 
ever you  do,  will  always  have  for  me.  In  look- 
ing it  over  cursorily,  before  giving  it  the  careful 
attention  it  demands,  I  am  not  at  all  displeased 
— perhaps,  I  ought  not  to  be  surprised,  that  you 
again  pounce  upon  me.  But  I  wonder  whether  I 
can  be  so  far  from  apprehending  your  posi- 
tion, as  you  seem  to  be  from  approaching  mine. 
On  page  165 one  finds  "they  "  (i.  e.,  I  and  those 
believing  writh  me)  "would  not  favor  a  fair  set- 
ting forth  of  the  arguments  for  and  those 
against  the  miracles  accorded  in  the  Gospel. 
*  *  *  They  would  not  allow  Him  (Jesus)  to 
be  compared  with  Sakya-muni,  as  Cassar." 


RELIGIOUS  SENTIMENT.  161 

Why,  my  dear  Thompson,  this  is  not  only 
what  we  do  allow,  but  the  exact  procedure 
which  we  are  all  the  while  urging  should  be 
taken.  You  surely  have  heard  me  do  this  very 
thing  a  score  of  times.  I  am  doing  this  so  often, 
and  urge  it  so  strongly,  that  I  have  some- 
times almost  w^ondered  w^hether  the  frequency 
of  my  iteration  may  not  w^eaken  its  force.  In 
my  "Lectures  to  Educated  Hindus,"  a  copy  of 
which  I  would  gladly  send  you,  if  I  have  not 
already  done  so,  I  say,  page  29,  "Christianity 
is  not  only  open  for  the  examination  of  the 
world,  but  it  challenges  the  closest  scrutiny. 
Try  me,  it  says,  to  all  the  opposing  thoughts 
and  systems  of  men.  Examine  my  claims  in 
whatever  aspect  and  by  whatever  test  you 
please,"  etc.  So  far  from  not  favoring  "a  fair 
setting  forth  of  the  arguments  for  and  those 
against  miracles,  this  is  precisely  what  I  at- 
tempted to  do  in  my  Lecture  on  Miracles,  and 
whether  I  succeeded  or  not,  the  attempt  was 
fairly  made,  and  I  have  never  known  its  fairness 
criticised.  If  in  any  point  I  have  failed  to  state 
in  that  Lecture,  fairly  and  with  sufficient  full- 
ness, the  arguments  against  miracles,  I  should 


162  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

be  most  gratefial  to  have  it  shown.  Did  I  ever, 
my  dear  friend — whose  presence  in  my  class- 
room I  remember  with  constant  joy — did  I  ever 
show  myself  afraid  of  free  thought?  Let  me 
quote  one  sentence  from  my  Inaugural,  on  tak- 
ing the  Presidency  of  the  College,  which,  if  I 
know^  myself,  is  as  truly  as  any  sentence  the 
keynote  of  all  my  teachings. 

"Christian  faith  is  not  only  not  hostile  to 
free  thought,  but  it  finds  its  normal  exercise 
and  expression  in  this  very  freedom."    p.  32. 

You  criticise  also  my  statement  about  the 
historical  accuracy  of  the  Gospels,  but  surely 
you  know  that  whatever  may  be  true  of  "Jour- 
nals and  Reviews,"  no  scholar  acquainted  w^ith 
the  recent  progress  in  Biblical  criticism  now 
doubts  the  general  historical  accuracy  of  the 
New  Testament.  Strauss  and  Renan  both 
admit  this.  True,  they  still  reject  the  miracu- 
lous element,  though  Strauss  is  obliged  to  ad- 
mit, in  his  "Neues  Leben  Jesu,"  that  the  disci- 
ples must  have  believed  in  the  resurrection  of 
their  Lord  from  the  dead,  but  they  reject  the 
miraculous,  not  because  the  historical  evidence 
in    its    support    is    wanting,    but   because    a 


RELIGIOUS  SENTIMENT.  163 

preconceived  theory  of  theirs,  about  the  "order 
of  nature,"  discards  all  historical  evidence 
that  contradicts  it,  a  procedure,  I  insist, 
worthy  of  neither  the  scholar  nor  the  philoso- 
pher. 

Will  you  forgive  me  for  so  long  a  letter  ?  Our 
sentiments  are,  I  am  sure,  akin,  whatever  our 
thoughts  may  be.  And  thus  I  embrace  you, 
and  am,  ever.        Most  truly  yours, 

Julius  H.  Seelye. 


United  States  Legation, 
Constantinople,  December  15, 1888. 
My  Dear  Thompson: 

I  congratulate  you  on  your  election  as  presi- 
dent of  the  Nineteenth  Century  Club.  I  don't 
see  how  the  club  could  have  done  better,  in 
view  of  the  fact  of  the  excellent  manner  you  had 
theretofore  conducted  its  affairs  as  acting  presi- 
dent. I  was  very  much  interested  by  your 
book  on  the  "Religious  Sentiments."  The  last 
chapter  is,  by  all  odds,  the  ablest  and  most  con- 
vincing presentation  of  the  question,  "Religion 
and  the  Schools,"  I  have  ever  read,  and  I  would 


164  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

be  glad  to  see  it  appear   in  one  of  our  best 
magazines.    *    *    *  Yours  sincerely, 

0.  S.  Straus. 


Park  Avenue  Hotel,  April  23,  1888. 
Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

I  thank  you  for  the  copy  of  your  important 
work  on  the  "Religious  Sentiments."  It  is 
more  affirmative  than  I  had  expected,  and 
therefore  very  edifying.  Yet  I  can't  say  that 
I  attach  the  supreme  importance  you  ascribe  to 
the  faith  in  immortality.  I  am  always  cautious 
in  draw^ing  on  the  belief  too  largely  for  ethical 
inspiration.  Even  if  heaven  is  a  fable,  it  is  not 
good  to  be  a  beast  or  a  sybarite.  Righteous- 
ness is  full  of  promise  for  the  life  that  now  is. 
As  for  myself,  if  I  can  have  faith  in  God,  i.  e.,  in 
the  Beneficence  of  the  Supreme  Power,  I  am  will- 
ing to  live  or  die,  as  He  shall  judge  best.  The 
best  people  I  have  known,  though  believing  in 
the  Hereafter,  never  seemed  to  me  to  live  w^ith 
"eternity  in  view^,"  but  to  do  right,  because 
they  had  pure  and  loving  hearts.  Is  it  not 
better  to  be  worthy  of  immortality  than  to  be 
sure  of  it  ? 


RELIGIOUS  SENTIMENT.  165 

That  is  what  I  preach  always,  though  I  cher- 
ish and  encourage  the  immortal  hope,  and  ac- 
count it  an  element  in  the  religion  of  the  Future. 

Your  Genesis  of  Trinitarianism  seems  to  me 
valuable,  and  all  your  criticisms  of  the  clergy 
are  just.  The  assumption  of  authority  is,  to 
some  extent,  however,  a  greatness  thrust  upon 
us.  The  people  want  dogma,  i.  e.,  positive  as- 
sertion. Even  in  my  own  emancipated  sect, 
this  want  is  felt.  People  want  their  preacher 
to  be  cocksure.  A  calm,  judicial  frame  of  mind 
is  unfavorable  to  exhortation  and  ethical  incite- 
ment. So  I  have  learned  to  look  leniently  on 
the  Pope's  infallibility  and  all  kindred  preten- 
sions on  the  part  of  my  fellow  successors  to 
the  Apostles.  (Am  I  not  an  Apostle?  Am  I 
not  free?)  As  Bamum  said,  "people  want  to  be 
humbugged,"  so  every  bishop  knows  that  the 
people  insist  upon  authoritative  guidance.  It 
takes  courage  for  a  priest  to  say,  "ignoramus, 
ignorabimus, "  and  it  is  certain  to  lower  him 
in  his  disciples'  eyes.  Thanking  you  once  more 
for  the  valuable  essay. 

Yours  sincerely, 

Theodore  C.  Williams. 


166        daniel  greenleaf  thompson. 

626  Carlton  Avenue, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  March  27, 1888. 
*  *  *  Differing  with  it  here  and  there,  I 
have  found  it  very  interesting.  It  could  not 
have  come  more  opportunely,  seeing  that  I  am 
through  the  first  of  Martineau's  two  volumes, 
"A  Study  of  Religion."  Your  definition  of  relig- 
ion is  much  more  to  my  mind,  and  I  think  likely 
much  of  what  follows  will  be  so.  Martineau's 
is  a  very  brilliant  and  fascinating  book. 

John  W.  Chadwick. 


SOCIAL  PROGRESS. 

25  West  Thirty-seventh  St.,  Feb.  1. 
Dear  Mr.  Thompson: 

I  have  just  finished  reading  *  *  Social  Progress, ' ' 
with  much  pleasure  and  profit.  I  am  glad  to 
have  you  say  a  good  word  for  our  newspapers, 
which  really  do  often  transcend  the  limits  of 
decency;  but  if  it  is  for  good,  and  keeps  us  in 
the  straight  and  narrow  path  of  right, — even  if 
that  is  through  fear  of  them, — it  is  all  very  well. 

Anne  C.  L.  Botta. 


My  Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

*  *  *  I  have  already  read  several  chap- 
ters of  "Social  Progress  "  a  second  time,  for  I 
found  it  last  summer  in  the  Authors  Club  li- 
brary, and  became  much  interested  in  the  book. 
I  also  dipped  into  your  other  books  there,  and 
have  promised  myself  the  further  pleasure  of 
reading  them  more.  Your  thoughts  seem  to 
run  a  good  deal  in  the  same  channel  as  my  own, 
but,  while  I  have  sauntered  or  skipped,  you 


168  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

have  brought  a  loving  strength  to  the  work, 
and  have  accomplished  an  immense  task.  I  am 
much  struck  with  your  clearness,  sincerity, 
earnestness,  and  continuity  of  thought.  Never- 
theless, I  cannot  do  you  full  justice,  as  I  ought, 
because  I  am  so  carried  away  by  amazement 
that,  with  the  labors  and  exactions  of  profes- 
sional practice,  you  could  set  free  your  mind  to 
roam  over  space  and  gather  so  much  in  a  field 
so  unlike  the  "herbless  granite"  of  the  law.  I 
found  the  profession  a  jealous  mistress,  and  for 
many  years  dared  to  look  only  occasionally 
into  a  book  of  literature,  much  less  of  meta- 
physics or  philosophy,  mental  or  moral  or  even 
social.  I  congratulate  you  upon  a  mastery  of 
mind  I  never  was  able  in  my  own  case  to 
possess.    Sincerely  yours, 

Albert  Mathews. 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  FICTION. 

Amherst  College, 
Amherst,  Mass.,  Dec.  5, 1890. 
My  Dear  Friend: 

I  must  both  thank  you  for  sending  me  your 
"Philosophy  of  Fiction,"  and  congratulate  you 
on  again  producing  a  work  indicative  of  your 
literary  skill  and  speculative  force.  I  can  easily 
see  its  attractiveness,  and  shall  at  once  give  it 
my  attention.  With  constant  affection, 
Most  truly  yours, 

Julius  H.  Seelye. 
Daniel  G.  Thompson,  Esq. 


Union  Club,  Dec.  3. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Thompson: 

I  have  read  your  thoughtful  and  lucid  book 
with  great  pleasure,  and  congratulate  you  most 
sincerely  on  its  authorship.  Here  and  there  you 
seem  to  me  almost  too  literal  and  charitable — 
but  that  may  be  only  my  ow^n  narrowness.  As, 
for  instance,  you  speak    of  such    a   novel    as 


170  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

"  Zanoni, "  with  a  recognition  of  its  sources  of  in- 
terest being  legitimate.  To  my  mind  the  mere 
supernatural,  in  fiction  as  in  life,  must  wholly 
pass  away.  The  good  and  strong  poetry  in  cer- 
tain parts  of  "Macbeth"  will,  I  should  say,  en- 
dure; but  I  can't  help  thinking  that  all  the 
witch  business  must  lapse  into  merited  oblivion. 
All  the  poetry  with  which  Dante  has  enshrouded 
it,  I  imagine,  will  not  eventually  save  "The  In- 
ferno,"— and  so  on,  ad  ahsurdum,  you  may, 
perhaps,  declare  it.  But  your  book,  with  all 
its  care  and  thought  and  study  cannot  be  too 
highly  praised.  It  is  rare,  indeed,  to  find  a  critic 
nowadays  of  your  blended  kindliness  and 
acumen. 

Believe  me,  hoping  soon  to  see  you,  always 

faithfully, 

Edgar  Fawcett. 


27  West  Seventy-fourth  St., 

New  York,  Dec.  28,  1890. 
My  Dear  Thompson; 

This  Sunday  afternoon  I  spent  most  profit- 
ably in  finishing  the  "Philosophy  of  Fiction  in 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  FICTION.  171 

Literature."  I  will  be  entirely  frank  in  express- 
ing my  opinion  about  this  work,  whether  it  be 
of  value  or  not,  it  shall  be  my  opinion.  The 
book  is  good ;  it  is  very  good.  It  is  naturally 
written,  plain,  direct,  not  stilted.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  three  classes  of  persons,  according  to  my 
judgment:  to  the  constructors  of  Fiction,  to 
the  readers  of  Fiction,  and  to  those  who  do 
not  read  Fiction — for  the  latter  will  learn  why 
they  should  read  fiction,  and  what  class  of 
fiction  they  can  read  with  greatest  profit. 

The  chapter  I  enjoyed  the  most  was  VI., 
*  *  Realism  and  Idealism . "  It  is  full  of  suggestion 
and  well  digested  thought.  The  chapter,  "Art, 
Morals  and  Science,"  is  equally  excellent,  and 
puts  in  clearly  expressed  language  many  rea- 
sons that  fiction  has  suggested  in  vague  outline 
to  the  thoughtful  reader. 

The  book  deserves  to  be,  and  I  feel  sure  it  will 
be,  used  in  our  high  institutions  as  a  valuable 
text-book  for  that  important  branch  of  litera- 
ture, fiction,  which  occupies  such  a  large  field 
in  the  reading  w^orld. 

I  congratulate  the  author  of  a  "System  of 
Psychology  "  upon  the  excellent  practical  fruits 


172  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

his  philosophy  is  bearing.  Again  thanking  you 
for  your  very  valuable  "Essay,"  which  you  in- 
sist upon  calling  this  book,  I  am, 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Oscar  S.  Straus. 


Chicago,  February  23,  1891. 
Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

I  am  glad  that  your  last  volume  is  a  success 
from  the  publisher's  point  of  view,  which  is  often 
of  no  small  importance  to  the  author  as  well. 

I  think  it  likely  that  your  w^ork  from  now  on 
will  be  your  best.  The  facility  with  which  you 
write,  and  v^rrite  well,  on  many  subjects,  tempts 
you  into  many  fields,  and  the  result  is  that  your 
intellectual  force  is  diflFused  over  a  large  area. 
It  has  occurred  to  me  that  you  may  yet  con- 
centrate your  mind  on  some  special  subject — as 
you  did  so  many  years  on  psychology — and 
with  your  large  knowledge  and  trained  habits 
of  thought,  produce  the  work  on  w^hich  your 
reputation  will  chiefly  rest.  *  *  *  j  liave 
been  the  last  year  more  and  more  interested  in 
the  study  of  psychical  phenomena,  and  more  and 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  FICTION.  173 

more  I  am  constrained  to  the  view  that  the  en- 
tire phenomenal  world  is  but  sjrmbolical  of  w^hat 
in  its  essential  nature  is  akin  to  mind.  My  in- 
vestigations have  impressed  me  with  the  signifi- 
cance of  what  Spencer  calls  "the  substance  of 
mind."  Perhaps  you,  too,  have  looked  into  the 
subject.  If  you  have  not,  I  assure  you  that 
there  is  a  field,  the  exploration  of  which  is  likely 
to  yield  important  results. 

Sincerely  yours, 

B.  F.  Underwood. 


New  York,  November  28,  1890. 
My  Dear  Thompson: 

Let  me  hasten  to  thank  you  for  the  "Philos- 
ophy of  Fiction."     I  have  not  had  time  yet  to 
more  than  dip  into  it  enough  to  see  that  I  shall 
read  it  with  both  pleasure  and  profit. 
Sincerely  yours, 

W.  C.  Brownell. 

If  Sociology  ever  becomes  a  science,  it  will 
certainly  have  reason  to  complain  if  among  its 
text-books  there  is  no  "Thompson  on  Evi- 
dence," I  should  say. 


174  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

159  S.  Oxford  Street, 
Brooklyn,  November  28,  1890. 

I  am  indebted  to  your  tidy  book  on  Fiction 
for  a  pleasant  part  of  my  Thanksgiving  day. 
I  am  much  impressed  Avith  its  profound  discus- 
sion of  the  elements  of  fiction.  It  is  readable, 
strong  and  courageous,  and  at  times  eloquent  in 
phrase.  I  very  much  appreciate  your  thoughtful 
kindness  in  sending  it  to  me. 

Gratefully  yours, 

John  A.  Taylor. 


Chicago,  February  9,  1891. 

Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

I  enclose  herewith  two  notices  of  your  last 
work  which  I  made,  one  for  the  Inter  Ocean, 
one  of  our  leading  dailies,  and  the  other  for  the 
Religio-Philosophical  Journal.  Both  are  inade- 
quate, but  they  will  do  a  little  to  call  attention 
to  the  book,  perhaps,  which  I  have  read  with 
interest  and  profit.  Your  contributions  to 
philosophy  and  literature  are  most  valuable 
and  entitle  you  to  first  rank  among  American 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  FICTION.  175 

thinkers  and  writers.  Too  profound  to  be  pop- 
ular, your  works  are  appreciated  by  the  thought- 
ful and  discriminating,  and  by  such  will  be  held 
in  high  estimation  as  they  become  known. 

B.  F.  Underwood. 


9  West  Thirty-fourth  Street. 
December  26,  1890. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

Mrs.  Clews  and  I  desire  to  thank  you  for  your 
kindness   in  sending  us   your  very  interesting 
book,  "The  Philosophy  of  Fiction  in  Litera- 
ture."   We  have  both  found  it  most  interesting. 
Very  truly  yours, 

Henry  Clews. 


Madison,  Wis.,  October  24,  1891. 

*  *  *  I  have  read  already  so  much  of  the 
"  Philosophy  of  Fiction  "  that  my  obligation  is 
due  not  less  for  the  pleasure  the  essay  gives  than 
for  the  pleasure  I  derive  from  your  kind  remem- 
brance. I  think  none  more  enjoy  the  sweet  solace 
of  such  studies,  which  employ  and  soothe  the 


176  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

mind,  than  they  who  are  forced  to  mingle  and 
struggle  with  the  passions  that  sway  the  ordi- 
nary course  of  affairs  in  our  profession  and  in 
public  life,  and  it  gives  me  an  added  appreciation 
of  your  excellence  to  witness  your  success  in 
their  pursuit. 

With  sincere  regards, 

William  P.  Vilas. 


POLITICS  IN  A  DEMOCRACY. 
(1893.) 

U.  S.  Senate  Chamber, 
Washington,  Oct.  19,  1893. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

I  know  not  how  better  to  tell  you  m^'-  thanks 
for  the  compliment  you  have  so  kindly  bestow^ed 
on  me,  than  by  confessing  the  sense  of  exquisite 
pleasure  with  which  I  learn  it.  It  gives  me  joy 
to  find  my  name  on  the  dedicatory  page  of  your 
interesting  and  useful  book,  so  as  to  share  some- 
what in  the  grateful  esteem  you  win  from  intel- 
ligent readers.  And  I  feel  the  delightful  emo- 
tion, w^hich  your  friendship  stirs,  and  pride  that 
it  is  so  testified  to  every  one  whose  eye  shall 
fall  upon  it.  I  shall  treasure  it  the  more  since  it 
gives  expression  to  the  thought  I  have  aWays, 
more  or  less,  entertained  on  the  subject,  and  to 
the  hopefulness  which,  after  all,  we  may  justly 
support  in  the  slow  moving  advancement  of 
mankind  in  self-government  and  development. 
We  need  sometimes,  w^hile  candidly  recognizing 
the  difficulties,  the  wise  and  just  strengthening 


178  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

of  faith  in  the  excellence  as  well  as  in  the  justice 
of  the  Democratic  principle.  And  I  am  glad  to 
derive  help  from  your  study  of  one  of  the  most 
trying  forms  of  our  experience  with  the  optim- 
istic resultant  view. 

With  cordial  regard  and  gratitude,  I  am  sin- 
cerely yours, 

William  T.  Vilas. 


House  of  Commons,  Jan.  12, 1894. 
Dear  Sir: 

Permit  me  to  thank  you  for  the  gift  of  your 
book,  "Politics  in  a  Democracy,"  which  I  am 
perusing  with  much  interest.  Although  you 
purport  in  several  chapters  to  state  and  set  forth 
the  good  side  of  what  you  call  Government  by 
Syndicate,  and  in  particular  of  the  instance  of 
such  government  furnished  by  Tammany  Hall 
in  New  York  City,  you  appear  to  me  to  pass,  in 
fact,  a  severe  and  quietly  incisive  condemnation 
upon  the  methods  and  the  character  of  that 
government  no  less  than  upon  the  apathy  of 
the  citizens  who  submit  to  it,  and  I  confess  that 
so  far  from  finding  in  j^our  volume  anything  to 


POLITICS    IN    A    DEMOCRACY.  179 

lead  me  to  withdraw  or  modify  the  view  of 
municipal  government  in  the  United  States,  pre- 
sented in  your  book,  your  ingenious  and  pointed 
remarks  seem  to  me  to  approve  that  view,  and  ^^ 
to  confirm  the  conclusions  at  which  I  had  ar- 
rived. The  elections  November  last  in  New  York 
and  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn  add  an  apt  illustra- 
tion to  your  remarks  on  the  power  of  the  inde- 
pendent or  mugwump  vote.  Again  thanking 
you,  I  am,  dear  sir, 

FaithfiiUy  yours, 

J.  Bryce. 


164  Columbia  Heights. 
My  Dear  Friend: 

I  read  your  book  w^ith  great  interest,  the  first 
day  I  had  it,  reading  until  late  in  the  night. 

I  quite  appreciate  its  sentiment,  the  more  so 
from  a  second  reading  of  the  last  two  chap- 
ters. My  mother  having  a  complete  history  of 
Tammany  Hall,  equal  to  some  three  hundred 
and  fifty  printed  pages,  in  manuscript,  makes 
me  the  more  interested  and  acquainted  with  the 
subject.    Mrs.  Blake  has  been  unable  to  find  a 


180  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

publisher  because  her  book  was  not  an  attack 
upon  the  Hall,  the  firm  that  encouraged  her  to 
write  it  flinching  from  a  work  that  was  in  any- 
way friendly  to  the  wigwam There 

never  has  been,  and  never  w^ill  be,  another  such 
a  turnover  in  our  lives,  probably.  You  would 
have  voted  as  w^e  did,  I  know,  and  been  hugely 

interested. 

Sincerely, 

SroxEY  V.  Lowell. 


New  York,  Oct.  23,  1893. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Thompson: 

I  received  "  Politics  in  a  Democracy,"  and  I  am 
much  obliged  for  the  same.  As  soon  as  election 
is  over  I  will  bring  my  mind,  enlightened  by  the 
experience  to  be  acquired  in  the  present  cam- 
paign, to  bear  upon  the  work,  and  from  the 
glance  that  I  have  taken  at  it,  I  think  I  shall  be 
much  interested.  I  fancy,  however,  from  my 
slight  examination,  that  it  will  not  make  you  a 
leader  in  "The  Organization." 

Yours  faithfully, 
William  Trayers  Jerome. 


politics  in  a  democracy.  181 

172  Congress  St., 
Brooklyn,  Oct.  22,  1893. 
Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

I  thank  you  sincerely  for  "Politics  in  a  Democ- 
racy." It  is  admirably  clear  and  compact  w^ith 
thought.  You  have  lifted  Tammany  Hall  into 
an  upper  ether  by  your  philosophy  where  its 
long  stay  would  cause  its  principal  members  a 
sort  of  asphyxia,  but  the  instruction  and  light 
to  the  rest  of  us  are  none  the  less.  I  differ  widely 
from  you  both  as  to  the  place  in  political  growth 
of  the  Government  by  Syndicate,  which  you  de- 
scribe so  finely  and  truly,  and  also  as  to  the 
particular  merits  and  uses  of  Tammany  Hall, 
your  chief  illustration.     But  you  have  set  me 

a-thinking. 

Faithfully  yours, 

Edward  M.  Shepard. 


121  East  18th  St., 

Oct.  17, 1893. 
Dear  Thompson: 

Thanks  for  your  book,  which  I  read  straight 
through  last  evening  with  both  pleasure  and 
profit.  It  is  a  good  book — ^up  to  a  certain  point ; 


182  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

and  it  will  do  good  because  it  will  help  to  clear 
up  men's  minds  and  make  them  see  things  as 
they  are.  Its  weak  spot  is  that  you  have  joined 
to  a  most  acute  and  interesting  analysis  of  Gov- 
ernment by  Syndicate,  a  defence  of  our  specific 
governing  syndicate.  The  general  political  spec- 
ulation is  injured  by  your  apology  for  Tam- 
many Hall  as  it  now  is.  With  much  that  you 
say  about  Tammany,  I  am  in  hearty  agreement, 
but  you  understate  the  case  against  the  pres- 
ent syndicate — probably  in  righteous  reaction 
against  the  Evening-  Post's  abuse. 
Yours  truly, 

Brander  Matthews. 


Trinity  Church  in  the  City  of  Boston. 

Oct.  18,  1893. 
My  Dear  Dan: 

Thanks  for  the  book,  which  I  have  already 
read,  and  with  sustained  interest.  It  is  the 
fairest,  ablest  and  most  lucid  statement  of  the 
nature  and  result  of  Tammany  government  I 
have  ever  seen.  For  years  I  have  believed  in  the 
system  and  tried  to  point  out  that  denunciation 
should  be  leveled  at  men  and  not  at  the  Hall, 


POLITICS    IN    A    DEMOCRACY.  183 

consequently  I  am  glad  to  see  my  view  set  forth 
with  power.  Boston  needs  a  syndicate,  and 
because  she  has  none  we  are  plagued  with  costly 
fires,  high  insurance  rates,  the  trolley  cars  and 
a  big  tax. 

Contra,  don't  you  think  that  you  could  re- 
vise the  last  chapter  in  the  direction  of  pruning. 
Let  Funk  alone ;  leave  him  out. 

But  you  have  written  a  big  book. 
Ever  sincerely  yours, 

E.  Winchester  Donald. 


6th  Ay.,  13th  and  14th  Sts., 

N.  Y.,  Oct.  27,  1893. 
Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

*  *  *  I  have  read  your  book  with  much 
satisfaction.  It  is  one  of  the  fairest  statements 
of  Tammany's  virtues  and  vices  I  have  yet  seen 
set  forth,  and  as  such  is  one  of  the  best  justifica- 
tions for  Tammany's  existence.  Although  the 
book  treats  of  practical  politics,  the  mind  of  the 
psychological  student  is  easily  discernible  and 
adds  to  its  charms. 

Very  truly  yours, 

IsiDOR  Straus. 


184  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

U.  S.  CiYiL  Service  Commission, 
Washington,  D.  C, 

March  3,  1894. 
Daniel  Greenleaf  Thompson,  Esq.  : 

My  Dear  Sir. — I  have  just  received  a  copy  of 
your  book,  which  I  had  already  read,  my  atten- 
tion having  been  called  to  it  by  Mr.  Brander 
Matthews.  I  was  greatly  interested  in  it,  and 
there  are  many  points  which  you  make  with 
which  I  entirely  agree,  although  there  are  cer- 
tain others  on  which  I  should  take  issue. 
Very  cordially  yours, 

Theodore  Roosevelt. 


Mutual  Life  Building,  Nov.  2, 1893. 
Dear  Mr.  Thompson  : 

I  have  read  with  very  great  interest  your 
"Politics  in  a  Democracy,"  and  beg  to  thank 
you  for  your  courtesy  in  sending  me  a  copy, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  to  congratulate  you 
upon  the  merit  of  the  essay. 

It  is  the  most  thoughtful  and  temperate  thing 
that  I  have  read  upon  the  subject. 


POLITICS   IN    A    DEMOCRACY.  185 

The  people  of  New  York  City,  and  if  not  those 
of  the  country  at  large,  have  been  stimulated  by 
the  Evening  Post,  the  Times,  and  similar  news- 
papers, to  believe  that  our  w^hole  system  of 
municipal  government  is  irredeemably  bad,  and 
all  this  class  has  received  much  encouragement 
from  Mr.  Bryce,  who  simply  followed  in  their 
train. 

It  is  high  time  that  the  subject  be  considered 
by  as  thoughtful  and  less  prejudiced  minds,  and 
I  am  very  glad  that  the  discussion  has  been  be- 
gun by  one  so  competent  and  fair-minded  as 
yourself.    Faithfully  yours, 

H.  D.  HOTCHKISS. 


New  York  City,  Oct.  17,  1893. 

My  Dear  D.  G.  T.: 

I  have  received  a  copy  of  your  new  work,  en- 
titled "Politics  in  a  Democracy,"  and  after 
carefully  reading  it,  hasten  to  acknowledge  to 
you  the  pleasure  I  have  received  in  its  perusal. 
I  have  smiled  at  that  crazy  brained  zealot  who 
denounced  the  Nineteenth  Century  Club  as  a 


186  DANIEL  GREENLEAF  THOMPSON. 

"theological  cock-pit,"  and  I  have  laughed  at 
the  recovering  blow  which  you  have  dealt  him. 
I  have  guffawed  over  the  little  spank  which  you 
suggest  should  have  been  administered  to  the 
too  laudatory  speaker,  and  I  have  noticed,  with 
satisfaction,  what  you  say  in  regard  to  the 
Constitutional  Convention  to  assemble  next 
May.  I  think  the  book  is  opportune,  written 
from  a  right  standpoint,  and  is  bound  to  do  a 
great  deal  of  good.  It  certainly  will  be  the 
means  of  instructing  many  intelligent  democrats 
living  out  of  this  city,  and  perhaps  out  of  the 
State,  that  Tammanj^  Hall  is  not  composed 
wholly  of  "scalawags,"  pirates  and  blacklegs, 
which  is  now  apparently  the  popular  belief.  I 
am,  with  great  respect,  very  truly  yours, 

Elliot  Sandford. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

"A  First  Book  in  Latin,"  1872. 

"A  System  of  Psychology,"  1884. 

"The  Problem  of  Evil,"  1886. 

"Religious  Sentiments  of  the  Human  Mind," 

1888. 
"Social  Progress,"  1889. 

"Philosophy  of  Fiction  in  Literature,"  1889. 
"Politics  in  a  Democracy,"  1893. 


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